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Teachings  of  Jesus 

concerning  the  . . 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 
£diUdi>y  JOHN  H.  KERR,D.D. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS 

CONCERNING 

THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 


Gerarp  B.  F.  Hallock,  D.  D. 


THE  TEACHINGS   OF  JESUS 

CONCERNING 

HIS  OWN  MISSION.     Frank  H.  Foster.     Ready. 
THE^KINGDOM  OF  GOD  AND  THE 

"church.  Geerhardus  Vos.       ** 

GOD  THE  FATHER. 

Archibald  Thomas  Robertson.  ** 
THE  SCRIPTURES.  David  James  Burrell.  ** 
THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  Louis  B.  Crane.      " 

CHRISTIAN    CONDUCT.       Andrew   C. 

Zenos ** 

THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE.  Gerard   B.  F. 

Hallock ** 

THE  FUTURE  LIFE.     Willis  J.  Beecher.      " 
HIS  OWN  PERSON.     Wayland  Hoyt. 

In  preparation. 

A  Series  of  volumes  on  the  ** Teachings  of  Jesus" 
by  eminent  vs^riters  and  divines. 

Cloth  bound.     12mo.     Price  75  cts.  each  postpaid. 

AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS 


CONCERNING 


THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 


Bv/ 

Gerard  B,  F.  'HaUock,  D.  D. 


AMERICAN    TRACT   SOCIETY 

150  NASSAU  STREET 
NEW  YORK 


Copyright^  igo6^  by 
AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I.  Its  Supreme  Importance.      .     .  i 

II.  Its   Beginning 22 

III.  Its   Evidences 3^ 

IV.  Its  Conflicts 60 

V.  Its  Maintenance 89 

VI.  Its  Joyful  Experiences.       .     .  107 

VII.  Its  Sufferings  and  Trials.     .  131 

VIII.  Its  Obligation  of  Service.      .  145 

IX.  Its  Rewards 158 

X.  Summary 168 

Indices ^11 


CHAPTER  I 

Its  Supreme  Importance 

j4  good  man  over  eighty  years  of 
yl  age,  speaking  of  the  forces  which 
contributed  to  prolong  his  Hfe  and 
strength  and  promote  his  happiness  and 
usefulness,  said,  ''  I  have  made  religion  the 
principal  thing  in  my  life. ' '  He  said  it  not 
boastfully,  but  with  expressions  of  sincere 
gratitude  to  God.  He  had  been  an  earnest 
Christian  for  more  than  sixty  years.  He 
knew  where  to  place  religion.  With  him 
prayer,  spiritual  life.  Christian  character, 
were  not  used  as  a  means  to  accomplish 
some  worldly  end.     He  was  not  religious 


2  The  Christian  Life 

merely  that  he  might  get  to  heaven. 
Religion  was  the  chief  thing.  He  prized 
it  above  all  things  else.  He  sought  it 
more  diligently  and  clung  to  it  more 
tenaciously  than  anything  else. 

He  was  right.  Some  men  do  not  give 
religion  any  place  in  their  lives.  They 
think  they  can  do  without  it.  They 
have  other  aims  which  they  consider 
higher,  or  to  which  they  give  more  care- 
ful attention.  Others  seek  religion  and 
hold  it  in  esteem,  but  they  do  not  make 
it  the  principal  thing.  They  think  more 
of  something  else.  Religion  has  a  place 
in  their  lives,  as  they  suppose,  but  it  is  a 
low  place,  an  obscure  corner.  It  does 
not  come  to  the  front.  But  those  who 
give  religion  no  place  or  a  low  place  in 
their  lives  not  only  act  contrary  to  their 
own  reason  and  higher  impulses,  but 
they  violate  the  whole  spirit  of  revelation, 
and  especially  the  definite  and  repeated 
teachings  and  commands  and  expostula- 
tions of  Jesus. 


Its  Sttpreme  Importance        3 

There  is  nothing  plainer  in  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  than  that  religion  is  worthy 
of  being  the  principal  thing  and  that  He 
wanted  men  to  make  it  such — that  He 
desired  them  to  give  to  the  Christian 
life  the  place  of  supreme  importance. 
He  said,  ''  Seek  ye  first  His  (God's)  king- 
dom, and  His  righteousness"  (Matt.  vi. 
33),  and,  ''Work  not  for  the  food  which 
perisheth,  but  for  the  food  which  abideth 
unto  eternal  Ufe  "  (John  vi.  27).  To  one 
who  came  running  and  kneeling  and  in- 
quiring of  Him  the  way  of  life,  but  who 
would  not  definitely  enter  upon  it  when 
told  what  to  do,  Jesus  said,  "  One  thing 
thou  lackest  "  (Mark  x.  21).  The  thing 
he  lacked  was  plainly  the  principal  thing. 
Jesus  so  regarded  it.  The  young  man 
was  very  rich,  but  plainly  he  was  not 
''  rich  toward  God."  Well  did  Jesus,  on 
another  occasion,  ask,  ''For  what  doth 
it  profit  a  man,  to  gain  the  whole  world, 
and  forfeit  his  life  ?  For  what  should  a 
man   give   in    exchange    for    his    life.^'" 


4  The  Christian  Life 

(Mark  viii.  36,  37).  He  places  religion 
before  pleasure  (Matt.  xvi.  24).  If  any 
pleasure  interferes  with  our  spiritual  life, 
it  must  be  given  up.  He  sets  religion 
before  wealth  (Luke  xiv.  33),  before  fame 
(John  XV.  18),  before  education  (Matt. 
xi.  29),  before  temporal  support  (Matt. 
vi.  19),  before  health,  before  personal  lib- 
erty, before  father,  mother,  or  life  itself 
(Matt.  iv.  19  ;  Luke  xiv.  26). 

One  cannot  but  recall  His  word  to 
Martha,  who  was  so  anxious  about  her 
household  cares  that  she  had  not  time  to 
sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  learn  His  wish 
and  will — how  He  told  her  that  only  one 
thing  was  needful  and  that  Mary  had 
chosen  that  good  part  which  could  never 
be  taken  away  from  her  (Luke  x.  38-42). 
In  other  words,  to  listen  to  Jesus,  to 
receive  His  truth,  to  stand  in  personal  re- 
lations to  Him,  to  submit  to  His  direction, 
is  of  greater  importance  than  any  anxious 
thought  about  our  daily  task,  important 
as  that  task  may  be  in  its  place.     Then 


Its  Supreme  Importance        5 

there  is  the  parable  of  the  wise  and  fool- 
ish virgins,  the  wise  having  oil  in  their 
vessels  (Matt.  xxv.  1-13).  It  is  a  lesson 
to  show  us  that  we  should  have  reserve 
of  character  so  that  we  shall  be  prepared 
for  sudden  emergencies,  even  that  great- 
est and  most  important  emergency,  when 
the  Lord  Himself  shall  come.  The  su- 
preme importance  of  the  Christian  life  is 
definitely  taught  by  Jesus  in  many  other 
parables  also,  such  as  that  of  the  treasure 
hid  in  the  field  (Matt.  xiii.  44),  of  the 
pearl  of  great  price  (Matt.  xiii.  45,  46), 
and  in  the  solemn  warning  contained  in 
that  of  the  ''  rich  fool  "  (Luke  xii.  16-21). 
It  is  absolutely  the  chief  thing  according 
to  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  And  He  had 
the  perfect  vision.  He  stood  in  the 
proper  position,  because  of  His  relation 
to  God  and  to  eternity,  to  judge  things 
aright.  He  knew,  and  it  is  our  high- 
est wisdom  to  learn  His  estimate,  what 
things  are  of  supreme  worth,  and  what 
things   if  neglected  are  so  neglected  at 


6  The  Christian  Life 

our  eternal  peril.  He  said,  '*  Except  ye 
believe  that  I  am  He,  ye  shall  die  in 
your  sins  "  (John  viii.  24).  There  can  be 
no  question  but  that  Jesus  always  pre- 
sented the  Christian  life  before  men  as 
the  thing  of  supreme  importance. 

His  Redeeming  Mission 

But  surely  we  cannot  be  surprised  at 
this,  for  His  whole  mission  in  the  world 
was  to  make  possible  to  men  the  Chris- 
tian life,  or  the  life  of  Christians.  The 
whole  world  was  lost  in  the  darkness  of 
sin.  ''  The  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost"  (Luke  xix. 
10).  He  gave  His  life  a  ''ransom  for 
many. "  There  is  no  word  that  tells  us 
of  His  coming  to  the  world,  of  His  in- 
carnation, of  His  life  among  men,  of  His 
solicitude  for  their  welfare,  of  His  suffer- 
ings and  death  on  the  cross,  which  does 
not  at  the  same  time  tell  us  of  the  tre- 
mendous importance  of  the  Christian 
life. 


Its  Supreme  Importance        7 

Christ's  call  to  men  is  a  call  to  proper 
emphasis.  He  wants  us  to  put  first  things 
first,  to  place  the  emphasis  of  life  where 
it  really  belongs.  The  meaning  of  an 
uttered  sentence  is  often  determined  by 
the  place  of  emphasis.  Exact  truth  may 
be  written  only  to  be  perverted  by  a 
wrong  stress  of  voice.  So  the  meaning 
of  life  may  be  determined  not  only  by 
what  we  put  into  it  and  what  we  leave 
out  of  it,  but  also  by  what  we  empha- 
size. 

Most  people  are  familiar  with  the 
effects  of  an  ill-adjusted  camera,  when 
the  right  focus  has  not  been  produced. 
We  have  seen  the  picture  of  a  beautiful 
child  taken  all  out  of  proportion,  with 
the  feet  as  large  as  the  whole  body — a 
monstrosity.  The  pictures  some  of  us 
make  of  Hfe  are  monstrosities,  due  to  ill- 
adjustment,  to  getting  things  in  wrong 
perspective  or  out  of  proportion.  The 
purpose  of  Jesus'  teaching  concerning 
the  Christian  life  was  to  lead  us  to  place 


8  The  Christian  Life 

the  emphasis   where  it  belongs — to  put 
first  things  first. 

First   Things  First 

It  is  a  part  of  the  confusion  with  which 
the  world  is  crowded  that  the  right  order 
of  things  is  often  inverted.  The  wrong 
order  of  right  things  may  be  a  great  evil. 
Disordered  or  disproportionate  truth  may 
be  the  worst  of  error.  One  of  the  great 
purposes  of  Jesus'  teaching  was  to  re- 
establish the  series  ;  to  teach  us  which  is 
to  be  first  and  which  second,  which  to 
make  subordinate  and  which  supreme. 
In  the  restored  world  many  things  that 
are  now  first  with  us  will  be  last,  and  the 
last  first. 

Some  people  put  last  things  first,  to  the 
utter  neglect  of  first  things.  This  is  the 
case  with  those  whose  great  concern  is  to 
become  rich  and  great  in  this  world. 
There  are  many  such.  They  think  of 
nothing  else  but  this  world.  They  de- 
vote all  their  time  and  energy  to  wealth- 


Its  Stipreme  Importance        9 

getting  or  honor-getting,  to  ''  getting  on 
in  the  world,"  as  they  call  it,  and  in  many 
cases  they  are  very  successful.  But  in  so 
doing  they  run  an  awful  risk  to  their  im- 
mortal souls.  "  They  that  are  minded  to 
be  rich  fall  into  a  temptation  and  a  snare 
and  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  such 
as  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdi- 
tion "  (I.  Tim.  vi.  9).  Such  prosperity  is 
a  curse  and  not  a  blessing.  This  is  one 
phase  of  what  Jesus  meant  when  He 
said,  ''  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  !  " 
(Mark  x.  23). 

The  same  is  the  case  with  those  who 
allow  their  whole  attention  to  be  taken 
up  with  the  cares  of  this  world.  There 
is  danger  from  both  the  "  deceitfulness  of 
riches"  and  the  ''care  of  the  world" 
(Matt.  xiii.  22).  Everything  good  may 
be  choked  out  of  our  lives  by  either  of 
these  things.  We  live  in  a  busy  world, 
in  a  bustling  age,  in  a  period  of  great 
commercial    competition,    when    much 


lo  The  Christian  Life 

time  and  great  effort  are  required  for 
persons  to  maintain  a  respectable  position, 
provide  for  their  families,  educate  their 
children,  see  that  neither  their  sick  nor 
well  are  in  want ;  and  on  this  account, 
many  allow  the  cares  of  this  world  to  ab- 
sorb their  attention,  to  the  utter  neglect 
of  their  eternal  interests.  The  same  is 
also  the  case  with  those  whose  minds  are 
absorbed  with  the  pleasures  of  the  world. 
These  are  those  who  follow  '*  the  course 
of  this  world  "  in  all  its  rounds  of  frivolity, 
vanity  and  folly,  to  the  utter  neglect  of 
God  and  their  eternal  well-being.  They 
that  live  in  pleasure  are  dead  while  they 
live,  putting  last  things  first  to  the  utter 
neglect  of  first  things. 

Preoccupation  of  Mind 

When  Professor  Pritchard,  of  Oxford, 
was  once  asked  if  it  was  not  the  tendency 
of  scientific  thinking  to  unsettle  religious 
faith  and  devotion,  he  replied  :  *'  It  is  pre- 
occupation of  mind  rather  than  science 


Its  Supreme  Importance      1 1 

that  is,  and  always  has  been,  the  prolific 
parent  of  skepticism  and  religious  indif- 
ference/' And  then  he  went  on  to  ask  : 
**  Are  not  the  preoccupations  of  high 
positions,  of  ambition,  of  Hterature,  of 
money-getting  and  money-spending,  of 
conceit,  of  sensual  habits,  and  even  of 
idleness,  at  least  as  unfriendly  to  the 
hearty  acceptance  of  Christian  revelation 
as  are  the  preoccupations  of  scientific 
pursuits?''  This  witness  is  true.  A 
great  many  men,  even  those  of  strong 
minds,  flatter  themselves  that  they  do  in- 
vestigate religion  and  have  not  been  able 
to  accept  it,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  they 
have  been  neglecting  it  for  other  pursuits 
and  have  never  given  it  any  continued 
thought  or  attention.  In  other  words, 
they  put  last  things  first  to  the  utter  neg- 
lect of  first  things.  Like  the  men  to 
whom  Christ  spake  the  parable  of  the 
Great  Supper,  they  are  preoccupied  with 
minor  things,  business,  cares,  pleasure, 
and  so  *'  with  one  consent  began  to  make 


12  The  Christian  Life 

excuse''  (Luke  xiv.  18-20).  Yet  the 
very  purpose  of  that  parable  of  Jesus  was 
to  tell  men  of  the  first  importance  of  the 
Gospel  provision  and  the  invitation  to 
partake  of  it. 

First  Things  By  and  By 

There  are  other  people  who  put  last 
things  first,  but  intend  to  attend  to  first 
things  by  and  by.  Their  great  concern 
is  to  establish  themselves  in  trade  first,  to 
succeed  in  their  profession  first,  to  get  on 
in  the  world  first,  to  become  rich  or 
great  or  honored  first,  and  then  become 
religious — then  seek  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  His  righteousness.  But  this  is  a 
great  mistake  to  make.  It  is  a  distinct 
reversing  of  the  advice  and  command  of 
Jesus.  It  is  living  in  a  constant  state  of 
deliberate  disobedience  to  Him.  It  is  an 
especially  wicked  way  in  which  to  live, 
because  of  their  selfishness  in  seeking 
their  own  things,  and  not  ''  the  things 
that  are  Christ's/'  and  because  they  are 


Its  Supreme  Importmtce      13 

running  counter  to  God  in  all  they  do. 
It  is  wrong,  too,  because  it  is  distrustful 
toward  both  the  providences  and  prom- 
ises of  Jesus  {cf.  Matt.  vi.  25-34  and 
Luke  xii.  27). 

It  is  a  mistake  to  put  last  things  first, 
intending  to  attend  to  first  things  by  and 
by,  especially  because  of  the  danger  it 
brings  that  we  may  die  without  religion. 
Well  did  Paul  remind  the  Corinthians, 
'*  Behold,  now  is  the  acceptable  time  ; 
behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation  ''  (II. 
Cor.  vi.  2).  There  is  the  danger  that  the 
things  we  put  off  we  may  never  attend 
to,  or  that  we  may  die  in  the  midst  of 
our  days  before  we  have  attended  to 
them.  If  we  prosper,  we  may  be  puffed 
up  with  our  prosperity  and  thereby  be- 
come increasingly  disinclined  to  religion, 
and  neglect  it  even  down  to  old  age,  for 
nothing  is  more  deceitful  than  riches  ;  or 
we  may  be  cut  off  unexpectedly  in  the 
midst  of  our  prosperity  before  we  have 
sought  the  kingdom  of  God.     Plainly  it 


14  The  Christian  Life 

is  great  folly  to  put  last  things  first,  in- 
tending to  attend  to  first  things  by  and  by. 
The  only  way  in  which  we  can  obey 
Jesus  and  act  wisely,  therefore,  is  to  do 
exactly  what  He  tells  us  and  put  first 
things  first — seek  '*  first "  God's  kingdom 
and  His  righteousness. 

The  Prior  Engagement 

We  should  seek  it  ''  first ''  in  point  of 
time.  We  are  neither  to  put  it  off^,  nor 
to  allow  anything  else  to  get  in  ahead  of 
it.  This  is  the  prior  engagement  of  life. 
To  the  young  it  means  that  they  are  to 
seek  both  entrance  into  and  the  righteous- 
ness of  God's  kingdom  while  they  are 
young.  To  those  who  may  be  middle- 
aged,  or  aged,  or  very  old,  it  means  the 
same.  In  point  of  time  this  is  to  be  the 
very  first  thing.  There  is  to  be  abso- 
lutely no  delay  about  it  on  any  pretense 
whatsoever  (Matt.  viii.  21,  22). 

We  should  seek  it  "'first,''  too,  as  a 


Its  Supreme  Importance      15 

matter  of  the  first  and  highest  impor- 
tance. Nothing  else  can  be  of  any  im- 
portance as  compared  with  the  attainment 
of  a  part  in  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the 
righteousness  of  it.  This  is  the  pearl  of 
greatest  price,  the  supreme  treasure,  the 
indispensable  blessing,  the  one  thing  only 
that  can  make  us  happy  here  and  here- 
after. We  should  place  it ''first"  in 
point  of  time.  We  should  make  it 
**  first ''  as  a  matter  of  importance.  *'  Wis- 
dom is  the  principal  thing,  therefore  get 
wisdom."  ''She  is  more  precious  than 
rubies,  and  none  of  the  things  thou  canst 
desire  are  to  be  compared  unto  her." 

It  is  right  and  proper  for  us  to  take 
into  consideration  also  the  gracious  prom- 
ises Jesus  almost  always  connects  with 
His  commands,  as  a  matter  of  comfort 
and  encouragement  in  our  obeying  them. 
When  He  tells  us  not  to  be  "  anxious  " 
about  what  we  shall  eat,  or  what  we  shall 
drink,  or  wherewithal  we  shall  be  clothed. 
He   adds,  "  For   your  heavenly   Father 


1 6  The  Christian  Life 

knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these 
things  "  (Matt.  vi.  32).  His  injunction 
is,  **  But  seek  ye  first  His  kingdom,  and 
His  righteousness  ;  and  all  these  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you ''  (Matt.  vi.  33). 
Heirship  to  God's  eternal  kingdom  and 
righteousness  does  not  cut  us  off  from 
temporal  blessings.  These  things  will  be 
**  added,"  or  given  over  and  above.  As 
some  one  has  well  said,  '*  They  will  be 
thrown  in  among  a  crowd  of  greater 
blessings."  The  good  things  of  the  pres- 
ent life  are  not  reserved  only  for  the 
wicked.  Satan  does  not  treat  his  follow- 
ers better  than  God  does  His.  When 
Solomon  first  asked  wisdom,  God  gave 
him  riches  and  honor  also.  What  is 
profitable  for  the  next  world  is  profitable 
for  this  one,  too.  That  ''  honesty  is  the 
best  policy  "  even  worldly  men  assert. 
That  ''  godliness  is  profitable  for  all 
things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that 
now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come,''  it 
is  time  all  men  knew. 


Its  Supreme  Imp07'tance      17 

The  King  of  our  Lives 
The  fact  is  that  the  Christian  who 
makes  Jesus  King,  who  puts  His  king- 
dom first.  His  rule  supreme,  is  both  the 
happiest  and  the  most  blessed  among 
men. 

We  have  somewhere  read  that  on  one 
occasion  Jenny  Lind  was  invited  by  the 
king  of  her  country  to  sing  in  the  royal 
palace  at  a  festival ;  but  the  festival  was 
to  be  held  on  the  Sabbath,  and  her  con- 
science would  not  allow  her  to  sing  at 
any  such  public  gatherings  on  the  Lord's 
Day.  She  therefore  refused  to  attend. 
The  king  came  in  person  and  pleaded 
with  her,  but  her  response  was,  "  There 
is  a  higher  King  than  your  majesty.  I 
owe  my  first  allegiance  to  Him."  She 
put  religion  first.  She  put  Christ  first, 
and  made  Him  the  real  King  of  her  life. 
It  is  our  duty  to  crown  Christ,  to  en- 
throne Him  in  our  hearts  and  over  our 
lives.     Nothing   short   of   this  is  giving 


1 8  The  Christian  Life 

religion,  the  Christian  life,  its  place  of 
proper  importance. 

We  should  make  it  the  principal  thing 
because  if  it  is  not  first  it  is  not  anything. 
A  religion  which  is  not  above  all  else  is 
no  religion.  So  soon  as  anything  else  in- 
trudes between  the  soul  and  God,  giving 
Him  an  inferior  place.  He  is  nothing  to 
us.  To  reduce  Him  to  a  place  lower 
than  the  throne  is  to  exclude  Him.  We 
do  not  know  Him  at  all  if  we  do  not 
know  Him  as  Lord  of  all.  His  love  is 
first.  His  desires  first,  His  name  first. 
Religion  must  have  the  first  place  in  our 
thought,  in  our  affections,  in  our  pursuit, 
in  our  confidence,  yes,  in  our  whole  life. 
Christ  put  our  salvation  first,  and  left 
heaven  to  *'  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost,"  even  suffering  the  death  of  the 
cross  that  we  might  have  life  eternal.  To 
undervalue  His  work  is  the  deepest  pos- 
sible disrespect  and  disloyalty. 

If  our  religion  is  not  first  it  is  not  reli- 
gion at  all.  When  the  young  lawyer  asked 


Its  Supreme  Importance      19 

Christ  what  commandment  is  first  of  all, 
He  answered,  '*  The  first  is.  Hear,  O 
Israel ;  The  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is 
one  :  and  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all 
thy  strength  "  (Mark  xii.  29,  30). 

Our  usefulness,  too,  depends  on  our 
giving  religion  the  first  place.  We  may 
be  useful  in  a  Hmited  way  without  reli- 
gion. Our  usefulness  is  not  wholly  de- 
stroyed when  we  make  religion  secon- 
dary. But  we  shall  never  fill  the  place  God 
designed  for  us  until  we  shall  make  the 
Christian  life  first.  Life  must  be  a  com- 
parative failure  so  long  as  the  throne  of 
the  heart  is  occupied  by  some  one  else 
besides  God.  He  alone  is  King  and 
Lord. 

Our  happiness  also  depends  on  placing 
religion  first.  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
being  too  religious  to  enjoy  sin  and  too 
sinful  to  enjoy  religion.  Jesus  said,  ''  No 
man  can  serve  two  masters  ;  for  either  he 


20  The  Christian  Life 

will  hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other ;  or 
else  he  will  hold  to  the  one,  and  despise 
the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon  "  (Matt.  vi.  24).  Those  who 
try  to  serve  two  masters  make  the  un- 
happiest  work  out  of  life.  They  have 
neither  the  ''  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season  " 
nor  the  joys  of  religion.  With  God  held 
in  an  inferior  place  no  one  can  be  deeply 
happy.  The  joy  of  the  half-hearted 
Christian  is  adulterated  and  unsatisfac- 
tory. Never  can  the  soul  enter  into  the 
joy  of  the  Lord  until  the  Lord  of  glory  is 
enthroned  in  his  heart. 

Salvation 

Salvation  depends  on  this.  One  who 
does  not  make  religion  the  principal 
thing  in  his  life  is  not  really  saved.  He 
may  take  to  himself  a  little  comfort 
that  he  has  done  something  religious. 
He  may  flatter  himself  that  he  shall  get 
safely  through  because  he  pravs  and  reads 
the    Bible   occasionally    and   attends   on 


Its  Stiprejne  hnportance      21 

some  religious  services.  But  his  religion 
is  not  genuine,  it  is  not  thorough.  He 
holds  it,  not  as  the  dearest  thing  in  the 
world,  not  as  his  chief  delight,  but  as  a 
necessary  precaution  against  future  mis- 
ery. To  be  in  such  a  state  is  to  misun- 
derstand religion  from  its  very  founda- 
tion, to  lack  vital  religion  entirely.  It  is 
to  think  more  of,  and  care  more  for,  some- 
thing else  than  God.  It  is  definitely  to 
disobey  the  fundamental  command, 
^*  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
me. 


CHAPTER  II 

Its  Beginning 

rHE  Christian  life,  presented  by 
Jesus  as  the  one  thing  of  su- 
preme importance.  He  also  tells 
us  must  have  a  beginning.  By  nature 
we  are  sinners,  alienated  from  the  life  of 
God  and  guilty  before  His  law.  If  we 
come  into  the  new,  saved  life,  there  must 
be  a  change  from  what  we  are  by  na- 
ture. This  change  is  of  so  marked  a 
character  that  it  is  called  by  Jesus  Him- 
self by  the  striking  name  of  the  new 
birth.  The  necessity  of  this  change  is 
stated  or  implied  constantly  in  His  teach- 

22 


Its  Beginning  23 

ings.  He  calls  it  a  passing  from  death 
unto  life.  *'  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you. 
He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth 
Him  that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  life,  and 
Cometh  not  into  judgment,  but  hath 
passed  out  of  death  into  life"  (John  v. 
24).  The  same  condition  of  the  sinner 
was  also  probably  referred  to  by  Jesus 
when  to  one  who  sought  excuse  for  de- 
lay in  obeying  His  call  saying,  *'  Lord, 
suffer  me  first  to  go  and  bury  my  father," 
He  answered,  "'  Follow  me,  and  leave 
the  dead  (the  spiritually  dead)  to  bury 
their  own  dead"  (Matt.  viii.  21,  22). 
The  apostle  John,  who  stood  especially 
near  to  Jesus  and  had  His  mind  so  fully, 
evidently  adopted  the  same  expression 
for  man's  unregenerate  condition,  when 
he  said  :  ''  We  know  that  we  have  passed 
out  of  death  into  life,  because  we  love 
the  brethren.  He  that  loveth  not  abid- 
eth  in  death ''  (I.  John  iii.  14).  Paul 
expressed  the  same  truth  most  forcibly 
when  he  said  to  the  Ephesian  Christians, 


24  The  Christian  Life 

'*  And  you  did  He  make  alive,  when  ye 
were  dead  through  your  trespasses  and 
sins"  (Eph.  ii.  1).  In  his  second  letter 
to  the  Corinthians  he  stated  the  thought 
still  more  emphatically,  saying,  '*  If  any 
man  is  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  (or, 
there  is  a  new  creation)  :  the  old  things 
are  passed  away ;  behold,  they  are  be- 
come new"  (II.  Cor.  v.  17). 

The  necessity  of  this  change,  together 
with  its  nature,  its  methods,  and  its  re- 
sults, is  most  systematically  and  fully  set 
forth  by  Jesus  in  His  conversation  with 
Nicodemus  (John  iii.  1-21).  In  clear 
and  emphatic  words  Jesus  told  Nicode- 
mus that  he  must  not  merely  be  born 
again,  but  be  born  from  a  lower  into  a 
higher  sphere  of  being.  The  Jewish 
ruler  was  alive  physically  and  mentally, 
but  he  was  dead  spiritually,  and  until  he 
received  spiritual  life  from  above  he 
could  know  nothing  of  spiritual  things. 
This  new  birth  Jesus  declares  to  be  a 
mystery.     ''  The  wind  bloweth  where  it 


Its  Begmning  25 

will,  and  thou  hearest  the  voice  thereof, 
but  knowest  not  whence  it  cometh,  and 
whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every  one  that  is 
born  of  the  Spirit."  But  all  life  is  a  mys- 
tery. This  spiritual  renewal  is  accom- 
plished by  the  influence  and  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  How  it  is  brought 
about  is  not  readily  understood,  cannot 
be  understood  ;  but  we  see  the  effects 
and  know  that  they  are  real.  No  one 
can  see  the  wind,  but  we  can  see  the 
effects  of  the  wind,  and  some  very  strong 
and  substantial  bodies  go  down  before  it. 
I  have  felt  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in 
my  heart  just  as  much  as  I  have  felt  the 
wind  blowing  in  my  face.  There  are  a 
great  many  things  people  cannot  reason 
out  that  they  beHeve  and  know.  Like 
the  man  whose  sight  was  restored  by 
Christ,  they  may  not  be  able  to  tell  how 
the  cure  was  wrought,  but  they  can  say, 
with  that  man,  ''  One  thing  I  know,  that, 
whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see  "  (John 
ix.  25). 


26  The  Christian  Life 

An  Object  for  Faith 

In  His  conversation  with  Nicodemus 
Jesus  did  not  stop  with  the  mystery  of 
the  new  birth,  but  presented  to  him  an 
object  for  his  faith.  This  was  Himself 
and  the  work  He  should  accomplish  on 
the  cross.  He  said,  '*'  As  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up  ;  that 
whosoever  believeth  may  in  Him  have 
eternal  life.  For  God  so  loved  the  world, 
that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  Hfe.  For  God 
sent  not  the  Son  into  the  world  to  judge 
the  world  ;  but  that  the  world  should  be 
saved  through  Him.  He  that  believeth 
on  Him  is  not  judged  :  he  that  believeth 
not  is  judged  already,  because  he  hath 
not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only  be- 
gotten Son  of  God  (John  iii.  14-18).  It 
should  be  remembered  that  ""  to  believe 
on"  Christ,  as  the  term  is  used  in  the 


Its  Beginning  27 

New  Testament,  always  means  to  trust, 
to  confide  in,  to  rely  upon  Him.  A 
Christian,  therefore,  is  one  who  believes 
on  Christ.  He  has  entrusted  his  whole 
life,  with  its  sin,  its  guilt,  it  ruin,  its  need, 
its  security  for  eternity,  its  redemption, 
cleansing  and  transformation,  to  the  hands 
of  the  mighty  Saviour,  the  strong  Son  of 
God.  Those  who  do  thus  believe  on 
Christ  are  born  anew,  born  from  above  ; 
that  is,  there  is  a  new,  a  divine  life  within 
them.  Jesus  speaks  of  it  as  a  well  of 
water  in  the  believer  "  springing  up  unto 
eternal  life  "  (John  iv.  14).  The  re- 
sult is  shown  in  new  affections,  new  de- 
sires, new  hopes,  new  aims.  If  we  are 
truly  born  again  the  life  of  heaven  has 
really  begun  within  us.  ''  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  within  you"  (Luke  xvii.  21). 
This  life  may  be  very  feeble  in  its  begin- 
ning, like  a  seed  planted  in  a  garden,  but 
the  seed  is  from  heaven  and  the  new  life 
in  us  has  truly  begun.  ''  That  which  is 
born  of  the  Spirit,"  said  Jesus, ''  is  spirit.'' 


28  The  Christian  Life 

It  is  the  life  of  the  Spirit  begun  in  a  hu- 
man soul.  Paul  put  this  truth  in  a  very 
striking  way  when  he  said,  ''  It  is  no 
longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me  "  (Gal.  ii.  20).  Jesus  said  that  a 
Christian  is  a  ''  branch ''  of  the  true 
Vine  (John  xv.  5). 

Christ  the  Way 

In  John  xiv.  6,  Jesus  says,  "  I  am  the 
way :  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father 
but  by  me. "  And  again  in  x.  9  he  says, 
*'  I  am  the  door :  by  me  if  any  man  en- 
ter in,  he  shall  be  saved."  It  is  worthy 
of  special  note  that  He  does  not  say  *'  I 
am  a  way,"  as  if  there  were  other  ways, 
but,  '"  I  am  the  way  " — the  only  way  ;  no 
one  can  come  to  the  Father,  or  to  heaven 
by  any  other.  Jesus  does  not  say,  **  I  am 
a  door,"  but  *'  I  am  the  door,"  that  is  the 
one  and  only  door  into  the  fold  of  God. 
Jesus  Himself  is  the  way.  He,  the  Lord 
of  life  and  glory,  took  upon  Him  our 
nature,  suffered,  bled,  and  died  on  the 


Its  Beginnijtg  2g 

cross  to  be  the  door — the  way  of  entrance 
to  eternal  life.  *'  By  me,"  says  Jesus, 
''if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved." 
''  Any  man  " — that  means  high  or  low, 
rich  or  poor,  learned  or  ignorant.  "'  Any 
man  " — that  means  whatever  his  former 
character,  however  many  his  sins,  how- 
ever hard  his  heart,  if  he  enter  by  the 
door,  if  he  truly  come  to  Christ,  he  shall 
be  saved.  ''  He  shall  be  saved," — his 
sins  shall  be  pardoned  ;  his  heart  shall  be 
renewed  ;  he  shall  be  set  free  from  the 
love,  the  power,  the  dominion  of  sin,  and 
in  the  end  shall  be  brought  safe  home  to 
heaven. 

If  a  ship  wants  to  trade  at  any  port  of 
the  many  upon  the  shores  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea,  it  must  pass  through  the 
narrow  Strait  of  Gibraltar.  Large  ships 
or  small,  valuable  cargoes  or  those  of 
little  worth,  it  is  all  one  ;  they  must  go 
through  the  same  narrow  opening.  So 
Jesus  said,  ''  I  am  the  door,"  and,  *' No 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  bv  me." 


30  The  Christian  Life 

But,  glad  and  happy  fact,  He  is  the  way, 
the  ever-available  v\^ay,  for  all  who  will 
enter  by  Him. 

Christ  the  Life 

If  the  process  of  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  life  could  be  described  it  would 
probably  be  something  Uke  this :  We  hear 
God's  testimony  concerning  His  Son. 
We  begin  to  feel  that  He  is  just  such  a 
Saviour  as  we  need.  We  begin  to  recog- 
nize His  suitableness  and  sufficiency  to 
meet  our  wants.  Our  guilt  and  pollu- 
tion seem  too  heavy  for  us  to  bear.  We 
become  aware  that  He  is  willing  to  take 
both,  and  give  us  pardon,  peace,  and 
power.  The  Holy  Spirit  holds  Christ 
before  us,  presses  Him  upon  us,  and 
something  within  us  begins  to  say  that 
we  ought  to  receive  Him.  We  hesitate 
until  we  can  hesitate  no  longer.  Shall 
we  reject  God's  testimony  to  us  ?  Shall 
we  silence  the  voice  that  begins  to  speak 
within  us  ?     Shall  we  reject  the  only  Sav- 


Its  Beginning  31 

iour?  No,  we  open  the  door  of  our 
hearts— and  Christ  enters.  The  mystical 
union  with  Christ  is  estabhshed.  We 
have  the  Son  of  God,  and  with  Him  we 
have  eternal  life  (John  vi.  47).  We  be- 
gin to  realize  that  it  is  no  longer  we  that 
live,  but  Christ  living  in  us,  working  in 
us,  and  shining  through  us  ;  we  begin  to 
feel  that  for  us  to  live  is  Christ  and  to 
die  is  gain — that  whether  we  live  or  die 
we  are  Christ's  and  He  is  ours.  We 
have  the  spirit  of  adoption  and  we  cry, 
Abba,  Father.  We  did  not  believe  on 
the  Son  because  we  had  this  spirit  of 
adoption,  but  we  have  this  spirit  of  adop- 
tion, this  assurance  of  hope,  this  indwell- 
ing power  of  an  endless  life,  because  we 
believe  on  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God. 
Our  faith  has  transformed  God's  testi- 
mony to  us  to  God's  testimony  in  us, 
and  we  begin  to  realize  that  in  giving  us 
His  Son  God  has  indeed  given  us  eter- 
nal life. 

No  truth  is  given  stronger  emphasis  in 


32  The  Christian  Life 

the  teachings  of  Jesus  than  the  fact  that 
He  is  the  life  of  men.  He  said,  ''  The 
bread  of  God  is  that  which  cometh  down 
out  of  heaven,  and  giveth  Hfe  unto  the 
world  "  (John  vi.  33).  He  said,  *'  I  am 
the  bread  of  life :  he  that  cometh  to 
me  shall  not  hunger,  and  he  that  be- 
lieveth  on  me  shall  never  thirst  "  (John 
vi.  35).  '*  All  that  which  the  Father  giv- 
eth me  shall  come  unto  me ;  and  him 
that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out "  (John  vi.  37).  **  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  you.  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  His  blood, 
ye  have  not  life  in  yourselves.  He  that 
eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood 
hath  eternal  life  ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up 
at  the  last  day.  For  my  flesh  is  meat  in- 
deed, and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed.  He 
that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my 
blood  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him.  As 
the  living  Father  sent  me,  and  I  live  be- 
cause of  the  Father  ;  so  he  that  eateth 
me,  he  also    shall    live  because  of  me. 


Its  Beginning  33 

This  is  the  bread  which  came  down  out 
of  heaven:  not  as  the  fathers  ate,  and 
died ;  he  that  eateth  this  bread  shall  live 
forever  "  (John  vi.  53-58).  "  I  am  the 
light  of  the  world  :  he  that  followeth  me 
shall  not  walk  in  the  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life"  (John  viii.  12). 
And,  ''  I  came  that  they  may  have 
life,  and  may  have  it  abundantly  '* 
(John  X.  10). 

Varied  Experience 

The  experience  of  the  beginning  of 
the  new  life  in  the  soul  is  exceedingly 
varied.  Probably  no  two  cases  are  ex- 
actly alike.  The  manner  of  its  beginning, 
or  of  the  manifestation  of  its  beginning, 
is  of  little  importance.  The  important 
thing  is  that  it  shall  begin. 

Sometimes  the  Christian  life  begins 
very  simply,  especially  with  the  young. 
Among  those  who  have  been  under  good 
influences  in  the  home,  in  the  church, 
in  the  Sabbath-School,  and  have  been  liv- 


34  The  Christian  Life 

ing  sweet  and  gentle  lives,  free  from 
grosser  forms  of  evil,  it  is  unreasonable 
to  expect  any  violent  "'  experience  "  or 
marked  change  in  the  outward  manner 
of  living.  Failing  to  recognize  this  fact 
many  parents  continue  to  wrestle  with 
the  Lord  in  prayer  for  the  conversion  of 
their  children  long  after  the  change  has 
really  taken  place ;  while  the  children 
and  young  people  themselves,  on  account 
of  the  same  mistaken  impression,  con- 
tinue in  strong  efforts  and  deep,  unsatis- 
fied longings  to  become  Christians  long 
after  God  has  indeed  accepted  them  and 
they  are  actually  living  devotedly  in  His 
service. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  recognize  how 
simply  and  quietly  the  Christian  life  some- 
times begins.  A  thoughtful  girl  of  six- 
teen years,  living  in  the  country  at  a 
distance  from  the  church,  which  made 
attendance  irregular,  read,  on  a  Sunday, 
the  memoir  of  a  Christian  woman.  On 
closing  the  volume,  she  said  to  herself, 


Its  Beginning  35 

''That  was  a  beautiful  life.''  After  a 
little  thought  she  added, ''And  I  should 
like  to  live  such  a  life."  A  few  minutes 
later  she  kneeled  down  and  said,  "  Lord, 
I  will  try  from  this  time."  The  decision 
was  made.  She  went  on  steadily,  and  is 
a  useful  and  influential  woman,  honored 
and  beloved,  and  widely  known  for  her 
beautiful  and  devout  character. 

So  gentle  a  call  or  so  sweet  an  experi- 
ence is  not  limited  to  children  only.  A 
man  described  his  conversion  thus  to 
Rev.  Mark  Guy  Pearse  :  "  I  never  pro- 
fessed to  be  a  Christian,  or  anything  like 
that ;  but  one  morning  as  I  was  going 
down  to  my  business,  I  was  thinking  of 
those  words,  '  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lov- 
est  thou  me  ? '  I  did  wish  with  all  my 
heart  that  I  could  answer  them  as  Peter 
did.  I  felt  very  sad  that  I  could  not. 
Then  it  came  to  me.  Well,  if  I  cannot 
say  so  much  as  Peter,  could  I  not  turn 
them  round  a  little  and  find  something 
easier  ?     So  I  began  to  think  there  was 


36  The  Christian  Life 

one  thing  I  could  not  say.  I  could  not 
say,  *  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  do  not 
love  Thee,'  and  I  found  some  comfort 
in  that.  At  last  I  got  bold  enough  to 
look  up  and  say,  '  Lord,  Thou  knowest 
all  things  ;  Thou  knowest  that  I  want  to 
love  Thee.'  Well,  then  I  began  to  think 
about  His  great  love  to  me  ;  I  thought 
of  His  life,  of  His  words,  of  His  cross, 
and  almost  before  I  knew  what  I  was  do- 
ing I  looked  up  and  said,  '  Thou  know- 
est that  I  do  love  Thee.'  "  And  at  that 
moment  the  consciousness  of  a  new  life 
dawned  on  his  soul. 

An  Artist  Converted 

Certainly  the  circumstances  and  expe- 
riences of  the  beginning  of  the  new  life 
differ  greatly.  Some  one  tells  of  an  in- 
fidel Swiss  artist,  who  was  serving  the 
devil  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  who 
went  to  Sheffield,  England,  not  long  ago. 
There  he  was  asked  to  make  a  caricature 
of  a  Salvation  Army  meeting.     He  went 


Its  Beginning  37 

to  the  meeting  on  that  errand,  and 
scanned  the  faces  of  the  people.  With 
his  own  heart  Hke  the  troubled  sea  that 
could  not  find  rest,  tossed  and  driven  by 
tempests  of  passion,  and  tormented  by  a 
conscience  burdened  with  sin,  he  looked 
on  the  assembled  worshippers  and  saw 
peace  written  on  their  faces,  and  an  in- 
ward joy  beaming  from  their  counte- 
nances. The  sight  convinced  him  of  his 
sinfulness.  He  saw  that  these  people  had 
something  which  he  lacked  and  which 
he  needed.  He  turned  his  feet  unto 
God's  testimonies,  believed  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  found  peace  through  the 
blood  of  the  cross,  and  rejoiced  with  the 
rejoicing  ones. 


CHAPTER  III 

Its  Evidences 

rHAT  the  Christian  life  must  have 
a  beginning,  that  a  change  of 
heart  is  essential,  Jesus  makes 
perfectly  plain  when  He  says,  ''  Except 
one  be  born  anew,"  that  is,  from  above  by 
the  Holy  Spirit's  agency,  *' he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of  God  "  (John  iii.  3).  The 
same  truth,  as  we  have  seen,  is  repeat- 
edly taught  and  constantly  assumed  in 
His  addresses  to  men.  So,  then,  there  is 
no  hope  for  us  until  our  hearts  are 
changed.  It  becomes  therefore  an  ex- 
ceedingly  important   question  :    ''  How 

38 


Its  Evidences  39 

can  I  know  that  this  work  has  been  done 
in  my  heart  ? ' ' 

Every   truly   penitent   believer    is   ac- 
cepted of  God,  but  not  every  one  is  con- 
scious  of   the  fact.     Yet  to    have  such 
assurance  is  certainly  highly  desirable.    It 
is  not  asserted  that  this  is  essential,    at 
least  in  the  beginning  of  the   Christian 
life,  for  the  Holy  Spirit  may  have  changed 
the  heart  of  a  sinner  even  when  he  is 
complaining  and  sorrowing  that  his  heart 
is  not  changed.      But  it    certainly  is   a 
grace  that  ought  to  be  sought,  and  is  the 
condition  of  much  peace  and  power  and 
Christian  usefulness.      It    is    important, 
moreover,  because  indifference  in  regard 
to  it  is   usually  a  sign  of  a  lack  of  any 
deep  sense  of  the  need  of  salvation  (Matt. 
ix.  13).     Persons  who  have  never  realized 
their  lost  condition  will  not  be  deeply 
concerned  to  know   if    they  are  saved. 
With  them  a  general  lethargy  of  spirit- 
ual feeling  takes  the  place  of  a  genuine 
assurance.     Those  to  whom  sin  and  sal- 


40  The  Christian  Life 

vation  are  not  vivid  realities,  but  only 
vague  terms  having  little  personal  appli- 
cation, will  scarcely  desire  to  seek  after  a 
full  assurance  of  hope.  But  those  who  are 
awake  to  these  great  realities  cannot  be 
content  with  less  than  a  confident  persua- 
sion of  their  acceptance  with  God.  They 
will  dread  nothing  more  than  the  possi- 
bility of  self-deception  in  the  matter,  and 
will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  a 
well-founded,  because  divinely  war- 
ranted, assurance,  as  far  removed  from 
presumption  on  the  one  hand  as  it  is 
from  indifference  on  the  other. 

Some  Evidences  of  Salvation 

It  is  very  desirable,  then,  to  know 
whether  the  new  life  has  begun  in  us  or 
not.  The  apostle  John  stood  very  near 
to  Jesus  and  he  laid  much  emphasis  on 
the  evidences  of  salvation.  Naming 
some  of  these  he  showed  the  importance 
of  our  being  consciously  able  to  bear  the 
tests,    saying,    *'  Hereby  shall  we  know 


Its  Evidences  41 

that  we  are  of  the  truth,  and  shall  assure 
our  heart  before  Him  :  because  if  our 
heart  condemn  us,  God  is  greater  than 
our  heart,  and  knoweth  all  things.  Be- 
loved, if  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  we 
have  boldness  toward  God  "  (I.  John  iii. 
19-21).  If  our  hearts  condemn  us  not, 
then  have  we  confidence  toward  God. 
It  is  certainly  very  desirable,  as  well  as 
most  delightful,  to  have  this  confidence, 
and  there  are  many  valuable  results  in  our 
lives  that  flow  from  possessing  it. 

We  May  Know 

That  one  may  know  whether  he  is 
saved  or  not  is  clearly  taught  by  Jesus. 
He  certainly  wished  all  His  followers  to 
advance  far  beyond  the  mere  hope  that 
they  have  a  hope  (cf.  John  xvi.  5-11). 
On  the  other  hand,  our  acceptance  with 
God  does  not  depend  upon  our  feelings. 
We  may  be  glad  of  that,  for  our  feelings 
are  very  fluctuating  things  to  ground 
our  expectation  of  salvation  upon.      We 


42  The  Christian  Life 

ground  our  hope  of  salvation  upon  God's 
finished  work  for  us  in  redemption,  and 
upon  His  spoken  word  of  promise  to  ac- 
cept us  and  save  us  when  we  turn  to 
Him  in  Christ.  But  there  are  available 
tests,  evidences  of  salvation  which,  if 
used,  may  help  us  to  a  knowledge  as  to 
whether  we  are  Christians  or  not. 

What  are  some  of  these  evidences  as 
we  gather  them  from  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  ? 

We  Know  Jesus 

It  is  certainly  true  that  we  cannot  follow 
Jesus  unless  we  know  Him.  How  can 
we  know  Him  ?  We  cannot  meet  Him 
face  to  face  as  His  disciples  met  Him 
when  He  was  on  earth  in  human  form. 
How  can  we  get  acquainted  with  Him  } 
We  may  learn  about  Him  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. ''  These  are  they  which  bear  wit- 
ness of  me"  (John  v.  39).  We  should 
search  the  Scriptures  until  we  become 
familiar  with  all  that  is  told  in  them  of 


Its  Evidences  43 

Jesus,  especially  His  words.  His  works, 
His  character  ;  until  we  have  learned  how 
He  lived,  how  He  loved,  His  patience. 
His  gentleness.  His  thoughtfulness,  His 
unselfishness.  His  great  self-sacrifice. 
We  should  learn  all  we  can  about  Him. 
But  it  is  not  enough  to  know  about  Him. 
We  must  know  Him.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible, too,  for  us  to  have  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  Him.  He  says  that  He 
knows  His  own  and  His  own  know 
Him.  ''  I  am  the  good  shepherd  ;  and 
I  know  mine  own,  and  mine  own  know 
me  ''  (John  x.  14).  He  says  concerning 
the  obedient  disciple,  "  I  will  love  him, 
and  will  manifest  myself  unto  him " 
(John  xiv.  21).  It  is  the  special  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  reveal  Christ  and  the 
things  of  Christ  to  us.  "'  When  He,  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  is  come/'  said  Jesus,  *'  He 
shall  guide  you  into  all  the  truth  :  for  He 
shall  not  speak  from  Himself  ;  but  what 
things  soever  He  shall  hear,  these  shall 
He  speak  :  and  He  shall  declare  unto  you 


44  T^he  Christian  Life 

the  things  that  are  to  come.  He  shall 
glorify  me  ;  for  He  shall  take  of  mine, 
and  shall  declare  it  unto  you  "  (John  xvi. 
13,  14).  Thus  Jesus  is  revealed  to  us, 
and  we  come  to  know  Him  as  a  personal 
friend,  knowing  no  other  friend  so  well, 
so  intimately.  This  intimate  knowledge 
of  Jesus  may  come  as  the  result  of  long 
acquaintance,  but  certainly  the  one  who 
begins  to  follow  Him  must  know  Him 
(r/.  John  i.  35-51). 

We  Trust  Jesus 

The  one  in  whom  the  new  life  has  be- 
gun has  some  consciousness  of  belief  in 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  of  trusting 
in  Him  for  salvation.  This  does  not 
imply  that  he  has  a  clearly  defined  grasp 
upon  the  doctrinal  questions  concerning 
Christ's  nature  ;  but  it  does  mean  that  he 
feels  the  need  of  a  divine  Saviour,  that  he 
believes  Jesus  to  be  God's  Son  and  able 
to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come 
unto    God  by   Him  {cf.   Matt.  xvi.   15- 


Its  Evidences  45 

17).  It  also  means  that  the  believer  has 
more  than  a  mere  intellectual  assent  to 
the  fact  that  Jesus  is  God's  Son.  He 
has  a  consciousness  of  yielding  to  Jesus, 
of  casting  himself  upon  Him  as  his  only 
hope,  of  trusting  Him  for  salvation  {cf. 
Matt.  iv.  20-22).  The  feeling  is  akin  to 
that  which  the  disciples  had  when  others 
were  leaving  Jesus  : ''  Jesus  said  therefore 
unto  the  twelve.  Would  ye  also  go  away  ? 
Simon  Peter  answered  Him,  Lord,  to 
whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life  "  (John  vi.  67,  68). 

Best  Ground  of  Assurance 

But  the  believer's  best  ground  of  as- 
surance is  found  in  the  definite  words 
and  promises  of  Jesus  Himself.  Jesus 
said,  *'  He  that  beheveth  on  the  Son  hath 
eternal  Ufe  "  (John  iii.  36).  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  definite  promise  and  revelation  that 
he  that  believes  on  Christ  is  saved.  ''  As 
Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wil- 
derness, even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be 


46  The  Christian  Life 

lifted  up  ;  that  whosoever  believeth  may 
in  Him  have  eternal  life"  (John  iii.  14, 
15).  *'  God  so  loved  the  w^orld  that  He 
gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  who- 
soever believeth  on  Him  should  not  per- 
ish but  have  eternal  life  ''  (John  iii.  16). 
When  Jesus  says  that  the  one  who  be- 
lieves on  Him,  relies  upon  Him  for  sal- 
vation, is  saved,  and  I  consciously  trust 
Him,  I  then  certainly  have  the  right  to  an 
assurance  that  I  am  saved.  This  can  be 
put,  like  any  other  point  of  reasoning,  in 
the  form  of  a  syllogism.  It  is  a  matter 
of  absolute  revelation  that  he  that  be- 
lieves in  Christ  is  saved.  This  is  the  ma- 
jor proposition  of  the  syllogism.  The 
minor  proposition  is,  '*  I  believe.''  That 
has  no  need  of  revelation  ;  it  belongs  to 
the  inner  consciousness.  Am  I  not  just 
as  sure  that  I  believe  as  I  am  sure  that 
my  pulses  beat?  Now  put  the  minor 
under  the  major  proposition,  and  the  in- 
fallible conclusion  is,  *' Therefore  I  am 
saved.*' 


Its  Evidences  47 

This  assurance  springs  up  in  the  heart 
in  consequence  of  several  elements  meet- 
ing together.  The  first  is  a  strong  faith 
in  the  word  and  promise  of  God.  The 
second  is  the  consciousness  of  the  pos- 
session of  that  state  of  mind  or  char- 
acter to  which  the  promises  are  an- 
nexed. It  is  not  simply  faith,  though 
faith  is  at  the  foundation.  The  fact  is 
the  Bible  is  full  of  promises,  and  they 
are  addressed  not  to  named  individuals 
but  to  characters  —  whosoever  loveth, 
whosoever  believeth,  whosoever  obeyeth, 
whosoever  trusteth,  whosoever  hopeth. 
Well,  if  I  hope  and  trust  and  obey 
and  love,  the  consciousness  ■  of  possessing 
these  graces  gives  me  the  assurance  of 
the  promises  which  God  has  annexed  to 
these  graces.  Then,  in  the  third  place, 
there  is  that  mysterious  and  royal  gift,  the 
witness  together  with  our  spirit  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  These  three  evidences 
taken  together  give  us  reliable  testimony 
upon  which  to  trust  that  we  have  passed 


48  The  Christian  Life 

from  death    unto  life,   from  old  things 
unto  new. 

We  certainly  cannot  put  too  much 
confidence  in  what  Jesus  says.  He  says, 
**  Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out  "  (John  vi.  37).  I  come  to 
Him.  I  have  a  right  to  believe  that  He 
has  not  cast  me  out.  He  says,  *'Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you  ;  seek,  and  ye 
shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened 
unto  you  ;  for  every  one  that  asketh  re- 
ceiveth  ;  and  he  that  seeketh  findeth  ;  and 
to  him  that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened  " 
(Matt.  vii.  7,  8).  I  ask,  I  seek,  I  knock, 
in  my  desire  to  be  saved.  I  have  a  right 
to  believe  that  He  has  answered,  has 
been  found  of  me,  has  opened  unto  me. 

We  Love  Jesus 

The  one  in  whom  the  new  life  has  be- 
gun has  some  consciousness,  too,  that  he 
loves  Jesus.  When  the  father  of  the 
child  possessed  of  a  demon  was  told  by 
Jesus,   ''AH  things  are  possible  to  him 


Its  Evidences  49 

that  belie veth/'  straightway  the  father  of 
the  child  cried  out  and  said,  ''  I  believe  ; 
help   Thou  mine   unbelief "    (Mark  ix. 
23,  24).     Just  so  the  one  who  has  en- 
tered upon  the  new  life  loves  Jesus,  but 
cries  out,  "  Oh,  to  love  Thee  more  ;  help 
Thou  my  lack  of  love  ! ''     But,  weak  as 
his  love  may  be,  he  is  conscious  that  he 
does  love  Him.     He  is  able  to  say  with 
Peter,  ''  Lord,  Thou  knowest  all  things  ; 
Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee  *'  (John 
xxi.  17).     A  true  Christian  is  not  simply 
a  baptized  person,  a  church-member,  a 
respecter  of  religion,  but  he  is  a  person 
who  has  some  definite  relations  toward 
Jesus.     He  trusts  Jesus  as  his  only  hope 
of  salvation.     He  hopes  in  Jesus  as  the 
one  who  fulfils  his    expectations.      He 
follows  Jesus  as  his  example  and  as  the 
one  who  will  lead  him  to  heaven  (John 
xiii.   13-17).     And,  above  all,   he    loves 
Jesus  ;  he  has  a  personal  attachment  to 
Him,   and   a  delight    in   Him,   in   His 
will,  in  His  wish,  in  His  success. 


50  The  Christian  Life 

Marks  of  Love 

Now,  there  are  ways  in  which  we  can 
tell  whether  we  have  this  love  for  Jesus 
or  not.  Love  has  a  way  of  making  itself 
known  and  felt.  If  we  love  Jesus  we 
will  love  to  think  about  Him.  It  is  a 
characteristic  of  love  that  it  likes  to  dwell 
in  thought  upon  the  object  of  its  love. 
So  a  true  Christian  does  not  forget  Jesus, 
His  wishes,  His  cause.  His  honor.  Him- 
self. Jesus  wants  us  to  think  of  Him. 
He  gave  us  the  Lord's  Supper  to  help  us 
to  keep  Him  in  mind  (Luke  xxii.  19). 
He  assured  us  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would 
aid  us  in  this  direction  :  ''  But  the  Com- 
forter, even  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the 
Father  will  send  in  my  name,  He  shall 
teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  to  your 
remembrance  all  that  I  have  said  unto 
you  ''  (John  xiv.  26). 

If  we  love  Jesus  we  will  be  glad  to 
hear  about  Him. 

"  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds 
In  a  believer's  ear." 


Its  Evidences  51 

We  like  to  hear  of  those  whom  we 
love. 

If  we  love  Jesus  we  will  be  glad  to 
read  about  Him.  We  always  rejoice  to 
receive  a  message  from  an  absent  child, 
husband,  or  friend.  So  the  messages 
Christ  sends  will  be  the  Christian's  de- 
light. We  have  these  messages  in  His 
Word.  The  true  Christian  loves  to  read 
them. 

Moreover,  if  we  love  Jesus  we  will  try- 
to  please  Him.  This  is  a  trait  of  love  ;  it 
always  considers  what  will  gratify  the 
one  loved.  If  we  love  Him  we  will  try 
to  do  the  things  He  will  approve.  We 
will  strive  not  to  do  the  things  He  disap- 
proves. He  Himself  said  that  this  is  one 
of  the  definite  evidences  of  the  new  life. 
*'  He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and 
keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me  '' 
(John  xiv.  21).  ''  He  that  loveth  me  not 
keepeth  not  my  words  "  (John  xiv.  24). 
"  Jesus  therefore  said  to  those  Jews  that 
had   believed  Him,   If  ye  abide  in  my 


52  The  Christian  Life 

word,  then  are  ye  truly  my  disciples  ;  and 
ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth 
shall  make  you  free ''  (John  viii.  31,  32). 
Love  does  not  murmur  that  Jesus'  re- 
quirements are  strict ;  it  is  scarcely  aware 
that  they  are  :  His  yoke  is  easy  and  His 
burden  light  (Matt.  xi.  30).  This  is  be- 
cause of  love.  The  true  Christian  has  a 
consciousness  of  an  affectionate  choice  of 
Jesus  as  his  personal  Saviour  and  Lord. 
He  submits  to  Jesus'  will,  makes  Him 
the  supreme  object  of  his  affections,  and 
endeavors  to  do  the  things  that  will 
please  Him.  If  we  have  a  consciousness 
of  a  willingness  to  accept  and  cheerfully 
to  do  the  will  of  Jesus  we  may  know 
that  we  have  been  brought  from  death 
unto  life.  The  spiritually  dead  do  not 
care  to  please  Him.  Jesus  Himself  put 
the  strongest  emphasis  upon  this  evidence 
of  discipleship.  ''Why  call  ye  me.  Lord, 
Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I 
say  ? "  (Luke  vi.  46).  "  Blessed  are  they 
that  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  keep  it " 


Its  Evidences  53 

(Luke  xi.  28).  He  says  that  only  those 
who  hearing  His  words  do  them  are 
building  upon  the  rock  (Matt.  vn.  24, 
25)  •  that  those  who  do  them  not  are 
building  on  the  sand  (Matt.  vii.  26,  27). 
"Every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the 
Hght,  lest  his  works  should  be  reproved. 
But  he  that  doeth  the  truth  cometh  to 
the  light,  that  his  works  may  be  made 
manifest,  that  they  have  been  wrought  m 
God"  (Johniii.  20.  21). 

Ijove  His  Friends 
Again,  if  we  love  Jesus  we  will  love 
His  friends.     This  is  a  well  known  trait 
of  love      We  love  our  friends'  friends. 
Jesus  affirmed :  "  By  this  shall  all  men 
know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have 
love    one    to   another"  (John   xiv.    35). 
This  evidence  which  is  good  to  convince 
others   is  also  good  to    assure  our    own 
hearts  that  we  belong  to  Christ.     It  was 
upon  this  fact  the  apostle  John  laid  so 
much  emphasis  in  his  first  epistle.        He 


54  The  Christian  Life 

that  saith  he  is  in  the  light  and  hateth  his 
brother,  is  in  the  darkness  even  until 
now.  He  that  loveth  his  brother  abideth 
in  the  light,  and  there  is  no  occasion  of 
stumbling  in  him"  (I  John  ii.  9,  10). 
**  We  know  that  we  have  passed  out  of 
death  into  life,  because  we  love  the 
brethren.  He  that  loveth  not  abideth  in 
death"  (I.  Johniii.  13,  14).  "If  a  man 
say,  I  love  God,  and  hateth  his  brother, 
he  is  a  liar :  for  he  that  loveth  not  his 
brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  cannot  love 
God  whom  he  hath  not  seen  "  (I.  John 
iv.  20).  He  then  goes  on  to  say  that 
Jesus  Himself  is  the  authority  for  his 
statement  of  these  evidences  :  '*  And  this 
commandment  have  we  from  Him,  that 
he  who  loveth  God  love  his  brother 
also  "  (I.  John  v.  21).  A  man  who  loves 
all  who  love  Jesus  has  good  evidence 
of  his  present  salvation.  Love  to  the 
brethren  is  one  of  the  best  evidences  to 
ourselves  and  to  others  that  we  are 
Christians.     In  a  recent  notable  conver- 


Its  Evidences  55 

sion,  of  a  professor  in  one  of  our  col- 
leges, the  man  humbly  testified  that  the 
first  evidence  he  had  that  he  had  passed 
from  death  unto  life  was  this  \  "\  began 
to  have  a  greater  love  for  others,  for  hu- 
manity, for  people  in  general/' 

If  w^e  love  Jesus  we  will  be  very  care- 
ful of  His  good  name  and  honor.  This 
is  another  universal  sign  of  love.  Readi- 
ness to  confess  Him  before  men  will 
therefore  characterize  the  true  Christian. 
Not  to  confess  is  both  to  disregard  His 
wish — ''  Every  one  who  shall  confess  me 
before  men,  him  shall  the  Son  of  man 
also  confess  before  the  angels  of  God" 
(Luke  xii.  8) — and  to  deprive  Him  of 
the  honor  due  to  His  name  and  of  the 
help  to  His  cause  each  volunteer  won  for 
His  army  may  give.  One  may  be  natu- 
rally timid.  To  feel  timid  may  not  be  a 
sign  of  lack  of  love  to  Jesus  ;  but  His  true 
follower  will  endeavor  by  the  grace  of 
God  to  overcome  his  timidity  and  openly 
confess  himself  on  the  side  of  Jesus. 


56  The  Christian  Life 

If  we  love  Him  we  will  also  love  to 
talk  to  Him  and  be  with  Him.  This  is 
why  Christians  love  to  pray,  and  to  go  to 
places  where  Jesus  is  found — where  He 
has  especially  promised  to  meet  them. 
It  is  also  a  reason  why  they  look  forward 
with  delight  toward  heaven. 

The  New  Life 

Now,  these  are  all  evidences  of  the 
new  life.  They  are  all  stated  or  implied 
in  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  He  did  not 
state  in  what  degree  they  must  be  present 
in  any  disciple,  or  how  many  of  them  the 
disciple  must  be  conscious  of  possessing 
at  any  given  time.  But  they  are  tests  we 
can  apply  to  see  if  we  be  in  the  faith. 
They  may  be  used  by  way  of  comparison. 
A  Christian,  whose  assurance  was  coming 
to  consciousness,  once  said  :  '*  I  know 
that  I  am  not  what  I  ought  to  be  ;  I 
know  that  I  am  not  what  I  want  to  be ; 
but,  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  also  know 
that  I  am  not  what  I  once  was. " 


Its  Evidences  57 

A  young  girl  who  presented  herself 
for  union  with  the  church  was  asked  : 
*'  Have  you  felt  the  consciousness  of  be- 
ing a  sinner  ? ''  Shesaid/^Yes."  "Are 
you  a  sinner  now  ? ' '  Again  she  answered, 
''  Yes."  "  Then  wherein  are  you  differ- 
ent from  what  you  were  ? "  She  replied, 
"  Before  I  was  a  sinner  running  away 
from  Christ :  now  I  am  a  sinner  running 
toward  Him." 

Surely  the  evidence  of  the  new  life  in 
both  these  cases  was  good. 

An  esteemed  woman,  a  professed 
Christian  and  useful  in  the  Church,  had 
a  natural  fear  of  death  and  a  weak  faith 
or  assurance  concerning  the  bliss  beyond 
the  grave.  She  called  on  her  minister 
for  advice  and  comfort.  He  knew  she 
was  really  a  devout  and  earnest  Christian. 
He  therefore  endeavored  to  encourage 
her,  comfort  her  heart  and  strengthen 
her  faith.  He  said,  "  Well,  suppose  that 
you  should  die  to-night,  and  go,  as  you 
sometimes  fear,  to  the  bad  place.     The 


58  The  Christian  Life 

Bible  teaches  that  our  works  do  follow 
us — what  we  love  to  do  here  we  shall 
have  a  desire  to  do  hereafter.  What 
would  you  do  there  but  the  things  you 
are  wont  to  do  upon  earth  ?  You  would 
try  to  form  a  Sabbath-school ;  you  would 
institute  a  prayer-meeting ;  you  would 
endeavor  to  do  all  the  good  in  your 
power  there  as  you  do  here.  Satan, 
hearing  you  singing  and  praying  and  en- 
deavoring to  convert  those  around  you, 
would  soon  turn  you  out.  As  long  as 
you  have  the  heartfelt  desire  to  love, 
serve,  obey  and  work  for  Christ,  who  has 
redeemed  and  renewed  you,  you  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  Satan,  and  have  no 
reason  to  dread  hell ;  for  you  will  not 
be  allowed  to  enter  there  unless  you  first 
become  depraved  in  heart  and  life  and 
have  the  desire  to  make  others  so.  The 
unrepentant  sinner,  if  it  were  possible  for 
him  to  reach  heaven,  would  be  miserable 
and  wretched  there  ;  but  you  know  that 
heaven  is  the  place  of  your  desire — the 


Its  Evidences  59 

place  that,  under  the  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  you  are  becoming  fitted  to 
enjoy." 

The  pastor's  words  lifted  a  veil  from 
the  heart  of  this  woman.  The  same 
words  give  an  excellent  test  to  apply  for 
evidences  of  the  new  life. 

''  The  greatest  thing  that  we  can  de- 
sire, next  to  the  glory  of  God,  is  our  own 
salvation  ;  and  the  sweetest  thing  we  can 
desire  is  the  assurance  of  our  salvation. 
In  this  life  we  cannot  get  higher  than  to 
be  assured  of  that  which  in  the  next  life 
is  to  be  enjoyed.  All  saints  shall  enjoy  a 
heaven  when  they  leave  this  earth  ;  some 
saints  enjoy  a  heaven  while  they  are  here 
on  earth."     (Joseph  Caryl.) 


CHAPTER    IV 
Its  Conflicts 

rHE  Christian  life  is  one  long  con- 
flict between  opposing  forces, 
designated  respectively  the  flesh 
and  the  Spirit,  or  between  the  old  nature 
and  the  principles  implanted  within  us  by 
the  renewing  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Some  of  these  forces  are  within  the  soul. 
Others  are  such  as  assail  us  from  with- 
out. It  is  indeed  true  of  this  struggle, 
as  Caesar  said  of  the  battle  he  once 
fought  in  Africa  against  the  partakers 
with  Pompey,  that  in  all  other  battles  he 
was  wont  to  fight   for  glory,  but   then 

60 


Its  Conflicts  6 1 

and  there  he  was  obliged  to  fight  for  his 
life.  The  Christian  Ufe  is  a  conflict  in 
which  not  alone  our  Ufe,  but  our  very 
soul  is  at  stake.  It  might  well  be  named 
a  conflict  for  the  soul  on  the  battlefield 

of  Ufe. 

Struggle  Anticipated 

It  was  never  the  plan  of  Jesus  to  hide 
from  His  followers  the  temptations  and 
tests  and  struggles  they  would  surely 
have  to  meet.  He  said,  '*  Behold,  I 
send  you  forth  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of 
wolves  "  (Matt.  x.  16).  He  also  said,  ''  I 
came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword,'* 
and  showed  how  the  one  who  would  fol- 
low Him  might  expect  foes  not  only 
among  strangers,  but  even  among  those 
in  his  own  household  (Matt.  x.  34-39). 
He  said  to  His  disciples,  ''  Yea,  the  hour 
Cometh,  that  whosoever  kiUeth  you  shaU 
think  that  he  offereth  service  unto  God '' 
(John  xvi.  2).  He  promised  the  ^'crown 
of  life,'' the  ^' white  stone,"  the  "hid- 
den manna,"  the  ''new  name  "  to  those 


62  The  Christian  Life 

who  should  '"hold  fast/'  bear  ""  tribula- 
tion," prove  *' faithful  unto  death''  (Rev. 
ii.  and  iii.)  He  said  that  He  Himself 
had  been  persecuted,  therefore  His  dis- 
ciples v^ere  not  to  be  surprised  when 
they  should  be  persecuted  also.  *'  A  dis- 
ciple is  not  above  his  teacher,  nor  a  serv- 
ant above  his  lord.  It  is  enough  for  the 
disciple  that  he  be  as  his  teacher,  and 
the  servant  as  his  lord.  If  they  have 
called  the  master  of  the  house  Beelze- 
bub, how  much  more  them  of  his 
household  "  (Matt.  x.  24,  25).  He  ad- 
vised men  definitely  to  '*sit  down  and 
count  the  cost"  before  entering  upon 
the  course  of  discipleship  to  Him  (Luke 
xiv.  25-33),  though  He  just  as  definitely 
gave  to  those  who  should  venture  the 
promise  of  His  presence.  His  wisdom, 
and  His  aid. 

FjvH  vs.  Good 

Jesus   certainly  never   hid   from  men 
the  fact  of  the  presence  of  evil  and  its 


Its  Conflicts  63 

bitter  opposition  to  the  good.  He  says 
that  where  the  good  is  sown  there  will 
appear  ''tares  also."  It  was  to  convey 
this  truth  that  He  spoke  one  of  His 
most  significant  parables :  ''  The  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  likened  unto  a  man 
that  sowed  good  seed  in  his  field :  but 
while  men  slept,  his  enemy  came  and 
sowed  tares  also  among  the  wheat,  and 
went  away.  But  when  the  blade  sprang 
up  and  brought  forth  fruit,  then  ap- 
peared the  tares  also  "  (Matt.  xiii.  24-26). 
In  explaining  the  parable  of  the  sower 
and  the  various  sorts  of  soil.  He  said  that 
what  He  meant  by  saying  that  some  seed 
fell  by  the  wayside  and  the  birds  came 
and  devoured  them,  was  that  to  some 
hearers  of  the  word  ''  cometh  the  evil 
one,  and  snatched  away  that  which  hath 
been  sown  in  his  heart"  (Matt.  xiii.  1-23). 

Satan  no  Myth 

That  evil  is  in  the  world  no  one  denies. 
The  experience  of  temptation  is  universal. 


64  The  Christian  Life 

To  the  Christian  this  means  the  ne- 
cessity of  conflict.  To  Hve  truly  we  must 
battle  day  by  day.  Satan  is  no  medi- 
eval myth ;  but  an  actual  and  active 
foe  v^ho  *'  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh 
about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour," 
(I.  Pet.  V.  8).  Interpreting  the  parable 
of  the  tares  Jesus  said  plainly  :  ''  The 
enemy  that  sowed  them  is  the  devil" 
(Matt.  xiii.  39).  On  another  occasion 
He  said  to  certain  unbelieving  Jews : 
*'  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  the 
lusts  of  your  father  it  is  your  will  to  do. 
He  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning, 
and  standeth  not  in  the  truth,  because 
there  is  no  truth  in  him  "  (John  viii.  44). 
There  is,  then,  such  an  enemy.  {Cf. 
Matt.  XXV.  41  and  John  xiii.  2).  Cun- 
ning, powerful  and  treacherous,  he  hates 
God  and  hates  the  good.  He  tempted 
Christ  (Matt.  iv.  1-11  ;  Mark  i.  12,  13  ; 
Luke  iv.  1-13).  He  wanted  to  **sift" 
Peter  (Luke  xxii.  31).  And  He  wants 
to  sift  us  too.     Two  things  he  especially 


Its  Conflicts  65 

tries  to  do  with  us  ;  to  draw  us  back  from 
the  new  life  into  his  service,  or,  failing  in 
that,  to  make  us  just  as  inefficient  as  pos- 
sible in  Christian  work.  To  make  us  in- 
efficient he  first  attempts  to  lead  us  into 
sin.  Yielding  to  sin  he  knows  makes 
cowards  of  us.  Our  cowardice  discour- 
ages us  in  the  Christian  Ufe ;  and  when 
discouraged  we  are  of  almost  no  use  in 
Christian  work,  for,  as  Mr.  Moody  used 
to  say,  ''  God  seldom  uses  discouraged 
Christians."  But  Satan's  real  purpose  is 
to  destroy  us.  As  Jael  did  to  Sisera,  so 
Satan  would  first  put  us  to  sleep,  and  then 
kill  us. 

A  careful  study  of  Jesus'  own  words 
concerning  the  Christian's  great  enemy 
cannot  fail  to  be  of  utmost  value  in 
setting  us  on  our  guard  against  him. 
He  speaks  of  him  as  ''  the  evil  one " 
(Matt.  xiii.  19,  38,  39  ;  cf.  v.  37  ;  vi.  13), 
as  the  ^Mevil"  (Matt.  iv.  1-11  ;  xiii.  39; 
XXV.  41  ;  Luke  iv.  8 ;  viii.  12  ;  John  viii. 
44;  cf.  Rev.  xii.  9;  xx.  2),  as  ^' Satan" 

£ 


66  The  Christian  Life 

(Matt.  iv.  10  ;  xii.  26  ;  Mark  iii.  23,  26  ; 
iv.  15  ;  Luke  x.  18 ;  xi.  18  ;  xiii.  16  ;  xxii. 
31 ;  </[  Rev.  xii.  9 ;  xx.  2),  as  the  ''  prince 
[apX^^j  ruler]  of  this  world"  John  xii. 
31;  xiv.  30;  xvi.  11),  as  the  '^tempter" 
(Matt.  iv.  1,  3  ;  Mark  i.  13;  Luke  iv.  2, 
12),  as  the  '^  father  of  lies,"  a  ^Miar,"  a 
"  murderer  from  the  beginning  "  (John 
viii.  44)  as  the  ''  father  of  sinners  "  (Matt. 
xiii.  38 ;  xxiii.  15 ;  John  viii.  38,  41,  44), 
as  taking  away  God's  word  from  the 
heart  (Matt.  xiii.  19 ;  Mark  iv.  15  ;  Luke 
viii.  12),  as  suggesting  evil  thoughts  and 
deeds  to  the  heart  (Matt.  xvi.  23  ;  Mark 
viii.  33  ;  cf.  John  xiii.  2),  as  seeking  to  sift 
His  followers  (Luke  xxii.  31),  as  min- 
gling his  sons  with  Jesus'  followers  (Matt, 
xiii.  25-30,  38-40),  as  oppressing  men  by 
sickness  (Luke  xiii.  16),  as  one  who  is 
yet  to  be  ^' cast  out"  (John  xii.  31), 
"judged"  (John  xvi.  11)  and  to  go  into 
eternal  fire  (Matt.  xxv.  41 ;  cf.  Rev.  xx. 
10,  14).  Compare  also  for  ''  Beelzebub" 
Matt.  xii.   24;  Mark  iii.  22;    Luke  xi. 


Its  Confiicts  67 

15,  for  ^^Old  Serpent"  Rev.  xii.  9  ;  xx. 
2,  for  "  Dragon  "  Rev.  xii.  3-17  ;  xiii.  2, 
4,  11 ;  xvi.  13  ;  xx.  2. 


Satan  s  Tactics 

Some  of  our  first  battles  are  the  hardest 
we  ever  have  to  meet.  Satan  fights  a 
few  big  battles  with  us  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  life.  He  seeks  to  con- 
trol at  the  outset.  There  is  a  mighty  call 
for  moral  soldiership  in  these  first  strug- 
gles. But  suppose  we  stand  in  these  first 
big  battles,  does  Satan  then  give  up  ? 
Not  at  all ;  but  he  does  change  his 
tactics.  His  method  then  is  to  try  to 
wear  us  out  by  a  lot  of  little  battles. 
This  is  the  method  the  Boers  pursued 
in  South  Africa,  in  their  fight  with  Eng- 
land. The  time  came  when  they  fought 
no  more  big  battles  ;  but  they  carried  on 
a  warfare  just  as  carefully  designed,  more 
cunning  and  even  more  harassing  than 
their  earlier  methods.     So  Satan  tries  to 


68  The  Christian  Life 

wear  us  out  with  skirmishes.  He  tries 
to  undermine  our  strength,  to  circumvent 
and  circumscribe  us,  to  defeat  us  by  a 
long-continued,  wearying,  exhausting 
series  of  little  battles.  He  sows  in  our 
minds  doubt  and  distrust.  He  tries  to 
lower  by  degrees  our  standard  of  right, 
and  get  us  to  compromise  with  evil  at 
one  point  and  then  another.  It  is  ex- 
ceedingly important  that  we  should  keep 
on  the  lookout  for  Satan's  second  series 
of  tactics.  We  are  not  safe  yet  just  be- 
cause we  have  won  the  first  few  big 
battles.  Satan  has  infinite  resources  of 
deceit,  and  it  will  take  watchfulness  and 
a  lot  of  the  highest  qualities  of  moral 
soldiership  if  we  are  to  win  on  this  battle- 
field of  life. 

No  man  need  think  that  Satan  will 
yield  without  a  struggle.  In  an  experi- 
ence meeting  in  the  mountains  of  Penn- 
sylvania one  man  had  murmured  because 
for  three  years  he  had  been  following 
the  Lord  and  yet   had  severe  struggles 


Its  Confiicts  69 

with  the  devil.  A  man  of  seventy  arose 
and  said,  '*  It  took  me  twenty  years  to 
get  the  hill  back  of  my  barn  reasonably 
free  from  rattlesnakes,  and  though  I 
have  farmed  the  place  for  nearly  fifty 
years  I  still  occasionally  meet  one  there. 
Brother,  the  devil  is  harder  to  deal  with 
than  rattlesnakes."  Satan  certainly  never 
yields  over  a  soul  to  Christ  easily,  and 
he  has  infinite  resources  of  treachery  and 
deceit  and  cunning  at  his  command. 
We  must  expect  to  fight  him,  and  we 
must  count  on  keeping  up  the  fight  as 
long  as  we  live. 

'' Little  Sins'' 

Then,  too,  Satan  has  a  way  of  tempt- 
ing us  with  so-called  "'little  sins."  But 
these  have  in  them  very  special  dangers. 
For  one  thing,  little  sins  have  in  them 
an  element  of  definite  affront  and  diso- 
bedience to  God.  They  are  a  violation 
of  His  holy  law,  and  whosoever  shall 
"stumble  in   one    point,  he   is   become 


70  The  Christian  Life 

guilty  of  all  "  (James  ii.  10).  That  is,  he 
is  a  lawbreaker.  It  is  also  a  fact  that 
the  authority  of  God  seems  to  be  more 
despised  in  the  commission  of  small  sins 
than  in  the  yielding  to  great ;  for  little 
sins  have  in  them  ordinarily  less  of  temp- 
tation and  therefore  more  of  wilfulness. 
Then,  too,  little  sins  greatly  deface  the 
image  of  God  in  the  soul ;  just  as  in 
a  costly  mirror  a  little  flaw  is  a  serious 
detraction,  or  as  in  a  rare  and  curious 
picture  a  little  scratch  is  a  great  deform- 
ity. Little  sins,  moreover,  maintain  in 
us  the  habit  and  course  of  sinning.  In- 
dulging in  them  sets  the  heart  in  the 
way  of  thinking  less  and  less  seriously 
of  sin,  and  the  tendency  toward  wrong- 
doing becomes  more  and  more  fixed.  It 
is  sadly  true  also  that  what  little  sins  lack 
in  weight  they  usually  make  up  in  num- 
ber. But  one  of  the  preeminent  evils 
of  little  sins  is  that  they  so  readily  make 
way  for  greater  sins.  Satan,  by  his  seem- 
ingly little  temptations,  nurses  up  young- 


Its  Conflicts  71 

ling  sins ;  but  they  do  not  stay  young- 
lings. By  and  by  they  arrive  at  full 
stature. 

There  is  an  Indian  story  of  a  morsel  of 
a  dwarf  who  asked  a  king  to  give  him  all 
the  ground  he  could  cover  with  three 
strides.  The  king,  seeing  him  so  small, 
said,  ''Certainly.''  Whereupon  the 
dwarf  suddenly  shot  up  into  a  tremen- 
dous giant,  covering  all  the  land  with 
the  first  stride,  all  the  water  with  the 
second,  and  with  the  third  he  knocked 
the  king  down  and  took  his  throne. 

"  Who  is  it  knocks  so  loud  ?  "  "A  little  lonely  sin." 
"  Slip  through,"  we  answer — and  all  hell  is  in  ! 

When  Pompey  could  not  prevail  with 
a  certain  city  to  admit  and  feed  his  army, 
he  persuaded  them  to  admit  a  few  weak 
and  maimed  soldiers,  who  soon  recovered 
their  strength  and  opened  the  gates  to 
the  whole  army.  Thus  Satan  does  not 
always  assault,  but  by  insinuations  gains 
entrance  to  our  hearts  with  a  few  small 


72  The  Christian  Life 

sins — sins  of  infirmity.  But  these  soon 
gather  strength  and  subdue  us.  Thus 
profanity  begins  with  but  little  oaths. 
Thieving  begins  with  '"pins  and  pence." 
Drunkenness  begins  with  one  cup.  Lust 
begins  with  a  glance  of  the  eye. 

If  Satan  prevails  with  us  to  go  with 
him  one  step  out  of  the  way  we  are  in 
danger  of  making  no  stop  short  of  the 
height  of  wickedness.  He  will  make  us 
take  a  second  step  and  a  third  and  so  on, 
all  the  way  to  destruction.  Each  step  is 
but  one  step.  The  last  step  in  sin  is  but 
one  step,  as  well  as  the  first.  So  if  Satan 
can  prevail  with  us  to  take  one  step,  why 
should  he  not  prevail  with  us  to  take  the 
last  step  as  well  as  the  first,  seeing  that  it, 
too,  is  but  one  ?  Our  second  sin  no  more 
exceeds  our  first  than  our  first  does  our 
duty,  and  so  on  to  the  end.  It  is  but 
one  step  at  a  time  all  the  way  to  destruc- 
tion. Well  did  Jesus  put  so  much  em- 
phasis on  the  craftiness  of  Satan,  and  tell 
us  over   and    over    again,   "'Watch  and 


Its  Conflicts  73 

pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation" 
(Matt.  xxvi.  41 ;  Mark  xiv.  38  ;  Luke  xii. 
39).  Well  did  He  tell  us  also  of  the 
spirituality  of  the  law,  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  and  on  other  occasions,  so 
that  we  would  be  warned  against  the 
tendency  to  regard  any  sins  as  trivial. 
He  told  us  how  that  anger  is  of  the 
nature  of  murder,  and  that  the  impure 
thought  or  look  is  of  the  nature  of  adul- 
tery (Matt.  V.  21-28). 

Temptation  not  always  Evil 

But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
Jesus  never  taught  that  temptation  and 
the  necessary  conflict  with  sin  are  to  be 
regarded  always  as  evils.  The  main 
question  is  not  how  to  escape  temptation, 
but  how  to  pass  through  it  so  as  not  to 
be  harmed  by  it.  Jesus'  way  of  helping 
us  is  not  always  by  keeping  us  out  of 
conflicts.  All  the  best  things  in  life,  the 
only  things  worth  grasping.  He  beyond 
the  fields  of  struggle,  and  we  can  get 


74  The  Christian  Life 

them  only  by  overcoming.  It  would  be 
no  kindness  to  us  were  God  to  withdraw 
us  into  some  sheltered  spot  whenever 
there  is  danger,  or  if  He  were  to  fight 
our  battles  for  us,  thus  freeing  us  from 
all  necessity  to  struggle. 

"  He  who  hath  never  a  conflict   hath  never  a 

victor's  palm, 
And   only   the   toilers   know   the    sweetness   of 

rest  and  calm." 

We  must  meet  temptation,  and  we 
must  make  up  our  minds  to  fight.  Not 
to  fight  is  to  lose  all.  And  there  is  really 
no  need  to  yield,  for  we  have  Jesus' 
promised  aid  (Matt,  xxviii.  20).  It  is 
indeed  possible  to  meet  the  strongest 
temptations  and  not  be  hurt  by  them. 
It  has  been  done.  Rightly  meeting  and 
victoriously  resisting  ever  puts  new  fibre 
into  the  soul.  The  Indians  have  a  saying 
that  when  a  warrior  kills  a  foe  the  spirit 
of  the  vanquished  enemy  enters  the 
victor's  heart  and  adds  new  strength  for 


Its  Conflicts  75 

every  coming  contest.  This  is  literally 
true  in  the  Christian  life.  We  grow 
stronger  through  our  struggles  and 
victories. 

Our  Need  of  Struggle 

Jesus'  use  of  the  w^ord  temptation  did 
not  always  convey  the  idea  of  allurement 
to  evil.  Indeed  His  most  frequent  use 
of  it  was  in  the  sense  of  testing,  trying, 
proving.  The  disciple  was  to  pray  that  he 
might  not  be  put  to  the  test,  or,  if  tested, 
be  approved  (Matt.  vi.  13)  ;  he  was  to 
be  vigilant  against  the  approach  of  any 
testing  time  (Matt.  xxvi.  41) ;  he  was 
not  to  be  Uke  ''  those  on  the  rock  .  .  . 
who,  when  they  have  heard,  receive  the 
word  with  joy  ;  and  these  have  no  root, 
who  for  a  while  believe,  and  in  time  of 
temptation  fall  away  ''  (Luke  viii.  13). 
Jesus  knew  that  we  need  struggle  to  be- 
come what  we  ought  to  be — what  He 
wants  us  to  be. 

A  recent  experiment,  reported  by  an 


76  The  Christian  Life 

eminent  naturalist,  may  well  serve  to  give 
emphasis  to  the  Christian's  need, — to  his 
necessity  for  conflict.  This  naturalist,  as 
he  tells  us,  was  studying  a  cocoon,  in 
which  a  butterfly  was  struggling  to  be 
free.  He  heard  it  beating  against  the 
sides  of  its  little  prison,  and  his  heart 
went  out  in  pity  for  the  helpless  creature. 
Taking  a  tiny  lancet  he  cut  away  the 
fragile  walls  and  released  the  little  cap- 
tive. But  to  his  amazement,  and  disap- 
pointment too,  it  was  not  the  beautiful 
creature  he  had  expected  to  see.  It  lay 
struggling  upon  the  table,  unable  to  walk, 
unable  to  fly,  a  helpless,  uncomely  ob- 
ject. In  place  of  the  gorgeously  colored 
wings  that  he  had  expected  to  see,  were 
weak  shriveled  members.  What  was 
the  matter  with  this  creature  that  should 
have  been  so  fair  ?  The  prison  gates  had 
been  opened  too  soon  ;  the  obstacle  had 
been  removed  before  the  struggler  had 
developed  sufficiently  through  struggling 
to  be  ready  for  its  glorious  flight  into  the 


Its  Conflicts  77 

sunshiny  skies  and  among  the  perfumed 
flowers.  Just  so,  is  it  not  true  of  us, 
when  the  walls  seem  to  close  around  us, 
when  we  struggle  and  agonize  to  be  free, 
when  God  refuses  to  cut  away  the  bar- 
riers, to  remove  our  temptations, — is  it 
not  because  in  His  infinite  wisdom  He 
sees  that  we  are  weak,  and  He  wants  us 
to  become  strong?  Then  at  last,  when 
the  struggle  is  finished,  like  the  butter- 
fly, we  may  come  forth — not,  perhaps,  in 
the  glorious  robes  of  splendid  colors  of 
the  butterfly  nature,  but  in  the  ever- 
lasting robes  of  a  righteousness  which 
God  can  approve. 

Conditions   of  Victory 

If,  then,  as  Christians  we  must  meet 
temptations,  what  are  some  of  the  con- 
ditions of  victory  ?  The  very  first  con- 
dition is  heart  consecration — the  being 
wholly  and  loyally  Christ's.  Jesus  said, 
''He  that  hath  my  commandments,  and 
keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me  '* 


78  The  Christian  Life 

(John  xiv.  21) ;  *'  Ye  are  my  friends,  if 
ye  do  the  things  which  I  command  you  " 
(John  XV.  14).  It  is  also  true  that  if  we 
do  love  Him  it  will  incline  us  to  keep  His 
commandments,  and  to  every  manner  of 
faithfulness  to  Him.  It  is  not  difficult 
for  a  bridegroom  to  be  faithful  to  his 
bride  if  he  has  given  himself  wholly,  loy- 
ally and  lovingly  to  her.  Temptation  is 
disarmed  by  his  consecration  to  her  and 
to  her  alone.  So  Satan  may  be  very 
strong,  but  he  loses  his  power  over  us 
when  we  are  sanctified  wholly  to  Christ. 
How  shall  we  know  temptation  when 
it  comes  ?  There  is  a  sure  way — by  com- 
panionship with  Christ.  A  young  man 
of  intemperate  habits  was  converted.  A 
former  associate  met  him  and  asked  him 
into  a  saloon  to  have  a  drink.  He  said, 
**  I  cannot;  I  have  a  friend  with  me.'' 
"'  Oh,  that  is  all  right ;  bring  your  friend 
with  you,"  said  the  man.  '*  No,'' said 
he, ''  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  my  Friend, 
and  He  will  not  go  into  a  saloon  and 


Its  Confiids  79 

does  not  wish  me  to  go/'  This  is  the 
real  test.  Imagine  Jesus  with  you,  your 
Friend  at  your  side,  His  eyes  upon  you — 
would  you  do  the  thing?  This  is  no 
imagination.  It  is  reality.  He  is  by  our 
side.  His  eyes  do  see.  His  ears  do  hear, 
and  His  heart  really  cares.  How  shall 
we  meet  temptation  when  we  know  it  ? 
In  the  same  way,  by  quickly  realizing 
our  relationship  with  Christ,  that  He  loves 
us,  that  His  honor  is  wrapped  up  in  us, 
that  His  confidence  is  fixed  upon  us. 
Love  to  Jesus  is  the  secret  of  victory. 
He  sent  word  to  the  members  of  the 
church  at  Ephesus  that  the  reason  back 
of  their  defeat  was  that  they  had  left  their 
''first  love"  (Rev.  ii.  4).  He  told  the 
apostles  on  the  night  in  which  He  was 
betrayed  that  to  abide  in  Him  was  the 
secret  of  joy  and  of  fruit-bearing  (John 
XV.  4,  6,  10),  and  well  do  we  know  that 
victory  over  sin  is  one  of  the  best  fruits 
of  the  Christian  life.  Love  to  Christ  is  a 
royal  strategy.     By  strategy  is  the  way 


8o  The  Christiaii  Life 

some  armies  succeed  in  war.  It  is  one 
way  the  Christian  can  succeed  in  the  con- 
flict with  sin.  Paul  gives  a  hint  of  what 
this  means  when  he  says,  ''  Be  not  over- 
come of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with 
good  "  (Rom.  xii.  21).  It  is  possible  to 
have  our  hearts  so  engrossed  with  the 
love  of  Christ  and  our  hands  so  occupied 
with  His  service  that  Satan  can  find  no 
place  in  us. 

Mr.  Moody  once  held  a  glass  before 
an  audience  and  asked:  **  How  can  I  get 
the  air  out  of  this  glass  ?  "  No  one  an- 
swered. He  turned  and  from  a  pitcher 
poured  the  glass  to  overflowing  with 
water.  *' Now,"  said  he,  *'the  air  is  all 
out."  Just  so  can  we  keep  Satan  and  the 
world  and  worldly  things  out  of  our 
hearts.  It  is  by  filling  them  with  the 
things  of  Christ  and  of  the  Spirit.  This 
is  wise  strategy.  It  is  dispossession  by 
preoccupation.  It  is  a  most  successful 
way  of  overcoming  sin  and  Satan  and  all 
evil. 


Its  Conflicts  8 1 

''  Hang  this  upon  the  wall  of  your 
room,"  said  a  wise  picture  dealer  to  an 
Oxford  undergraduate,  as  he  handed  him 
an  engraving  of  a  Madonna  of  Raphael, 
"  and  then  all  the  pictures  of  jockeys  and 
ballet  girls  will  disappear."  Let  us  try 
the  same  experiment  with  our  souls. 
Let  their  walls  be  hung  with  the  things 
that  are  noble  and  beautiful  and  pure, 
and  the  foul  and  fleshly  will  seem  revolt- 
ing. Let  us  occupy  our  hearts  with  the 
love  of  Jesus  and  the  love  of  the  things 
He  loves  and  evil  will  not  find  place 
in  us. 

Avoidance 

Another  wise  precaution  in  the  conflict 
with  evil  is  for  us  to  avoid  temptations 
not  in  the  path  of  duty.  Jesus  taught 
us  to  pray,  "  Bring  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion, but  deUver  us  from  the  evil  one  " 
(Matt.  vi.  13).  Let  us  not  expose  our- 
selves to  unnecessary  temptations. 

A  man  professed  conversion.     His  be- 


82  The  Christian  Life 

setting  sin  had  been  drunkenness.  But 
upon  claiming  to  be  converted  he  said 
he  would  prove  the  genuineness  of  his 
change  of  heart  by  going  to  the  city, 
passing  by  all  the  saloons,  and  coming 
home  as  sober  as  he  went.  It  can  be  no 
surprise  to  any  one  to  know  that,  having 
gone  in  that  spirit,  he  came  back  as 
drunk  as  ever.  He  met  needless  temp- 
tation, and  not  in  the  way  of  his  duty. 
We  need  to  pray  the  Lord  to  keep  us 
from  presumptuous  sins,  and  help  us 
carefully  to  avoid  all  temptations  not  in 
the  way  of  duty. 

Lord  Macaulay  tells  us  that  at  the 
siege  of  Namur,  while  the  conflict  was 
raging,  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  who 
was  giving  his  orders  under  a  shower  of 
bullets,  saw  with  surprise  and  anger 
among  his  staff-officers  Michael  God- 
frey, the  deputy  governor  of  the  Bank 
of  England.  He  had  come  to  the  king's 
headquarters  on  business,  and  was  curious 
to  see  real  war.     **  Mr.   Godfrey,''  said 


Its    Conflicts  83 

King  William,  ''  You  ought  not  to  run 
these  hazards.  You  are  not  a  soldier  ; 
you  can  be  of  no  use  to  us  here."  ""  Sir," 
answered  Godfrey,  *'  I  run  no  more  risk 
than  Your  Majesty,"  ''Not  so,"  said 
William,  ''  I  am  where  it  is  my  duty  to 
be,  and  I  may  without  presumption 
commit  my  life  to  God's  keeping  ;  but 
you — "  Before  the  sentence  was  finished 
a  cannon-ball  laid  Godfrey  dead  at  the 
king's  feet.  The  king's  words  were 
true,  and  the  truth  they  conveyed  is  just 
as  applicable  to  temptations  and  spiritual 
dangers  as  to  the  perils  of  war.  Where 
duty  calls  us  we  may  go,  relying  upon 
God  for  His  protection,  but  to  venture 
unnecessarily  into  temptation  is  certainly 
a  presumptuous  sin.  Jesus  allowed  His 
followers  the  principle  of  avoidance 
when  it  can  honorably  be  applied  (Matt. 
X.  23). 

No  Compromise 
It  is  all-important  also  that  we  make 


84  The  Christian  Life 

no  compromises  with  evil.  We  must  be 
out  and  out  on  the  side  of  Jesus,  with 
Him  and  for  Him  all  the  time.  Com- 
promises are  always  dangerous.  Because 
it  was  cold  the  camel  asked  the  Arab  to 
let  him  put  his  head  into  the  tent.  Being 
permitted  he  was  soon  in  with  his  fore 
feet,  and  then  with  his  whole  body. 
"  Hold  !  "  cried  the  Arab,  "  there  is  not 
room  enough  for  us  both!"  *'Then," 
said  the  camel,  "  you  had  better  get 
out !  "  That  is  the  way  it  always  ends. 
Compromises  are  exceedingly  dangerous. 
But  after  all  care  and  caution,  after  all 
that  can  be  done  to  avoid  all  unnecessary 
testings,  temptations  will  come — temp- 
tations strong  and  terrible.  What  then  ? 
Why,  then  is  the  time  most  especially  to 
watch,  and  fight  and  pray.  Watch  ;  let 
no  man  deceive  you.  We  are  not  to 
think  of  Satan  as  our  only  foe.  There 
are  satanic  men  who  oppose  all  that  is 
good,  and  Jesus  warned  us  against  them 
too.      He  definitely  told   His  disciples. 


Its   Conflicts  85 

''  Take  heed  that  no  man  lead  you  astray  " 
(Matt.  xxiv.  4).  He  plainly  implied 
that  there  would  be  men  of  such  satanic 
dispositions  that  they  would  take  delight 
in  causing  feeble,  young  and  newly  en- 
listed Christians  to  stumble,  at  the  same 
time  pronouncing  unutterable  woe  on  the 
men  by  whom  such  occasion  should  be 
given  (Matt,  xviii.  6,  7).  He  said  dis- 
tinctly that  there  should  come  false 
prophets,  *' wolves  in  sheep's  clothing," 
who  should  teach  false  doctrines,  and  of- 
fer false  leadership,  and  try  by  all  means 
to  draw  His  people  astray  (Matt.  vii. 
15  ;  Mark  xiii.  22,  23).  His  warnings 
against  evil  men  were  frequent.  Indeed, 
one  of  His  very  last  messages,  that  to 
the  members  of  the  church  in  Philadel- 
phia, was  against  treacherous  and  crafty 
men  :  *'  Hold  fast  that  which  thou  hast, 
that  no  one  take  thy  crown  ''  (Rev.  iii. 
11).  Watch  against  evil  men.  Watch 
against  Satan.  **  How  can  one  enter  into 
the  house  of  the  strong  man,  and  spoil 


86  The  Christian  Life 

his  goods,  except  he  first  bind  the  strong 
man?"  (Matt.  xii.  29).  Watch;  be 
vigilant ;  keep  the  citadel,  guard  every 
avenue  by  which  the  enemy  can  make 
his  approach.  And  fight.  Ofi^er  abso- 
lutely unwavering  resistance.  Men  and 
devils  may  tempt,  but  men  and  devils 
cannot  force  us  to  yield.  Luther  used  to 
say :  ''  We  cannot  keep  the  birds  from 
flying  over  our  heads,  but  we  can  pre- 
vent them  from  building  their  nests  in 
our  hair."  We  cannot  prevent  tempta- 
tions from  whispering  in  our  ears,  but 
we  certainly  can  prevent  them  from  mak- 
ing their  nests  in  our  hearts.  No  one 
can  compel  us  to  sin,  and  it  is  possible  to 
come  out  of  the  fiercest  struggle  with 
evil  with  clean  hands  and  untarnished 
spirit  and  consciences  void  of  offence  to- 
ward God  and  toward  men.  Watch,  and 
fight.  Resist.  Wield  the  *'  sword  of  the 
Spirit,"  the  word  of  God,  as  did  Jesus 
when  Satan  tempted  Him  (Luke  iv.  8, 
12).     Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith.     Lay 


Its   Conflicts  87 

hold  on  eternal  life.  And  pray.  Do  not 
forget  to  pray.  Fight  as  if  all  depended 
upon  you.  Pray  as  if  all  depended  upon 
God. 

"  Watch  and  fight  and  pray, 
The  battle  ne'er  give  o'er; 
Renew  it  boldly  every  day, 
And  help  Divine  implore." 

*' Blessed  is  the  man  that  endureth 
temptation  ;  for  when  he  hath  been  ap- 
proved, he  shall  receive  the  crown  of 
life,  which  the  Lord  promised  to  them 
that  love  Him"  (James  i.  12).  Is  it  not 
significant,  as  well  as  exceedingly  inspir- 
ing, that  among  the  very  last  messages  of 
Jesus  to  men  there  should  be  found  such 
a  series  of  happy  promises  ''  To  him  that 
overcometh  "  ?  Those  who  overcome 
shall  eat  of  the  hidden  manna  (Rev.  ii. 
17),  eat  of  the  tree  of  life  (ii.  7),  be  ar- 
rayed in  white  garments  (iii.  5),  be  pillars 
in  the  temple  of  God  (iii.  12),  sit  with 
Christ  in   His   throne   (iii.    21),  have  a 


88  The  Christian  Life 

white  stone,  and  in  it  a  new  name  written 
(ii.  17),  have  authority  over  the  nations 
(ii.  26),  have  the  name  of  God  written 
upon  them  by  Christ  (iii.  12),  have  the 
morning  star  (ii.  28),  be  confessed  by 
Jesus  before  God  the  Father  (iii.  5),  be 
not  hurt  of  the  second  death  (ii.  11),  and 
shall  not  have  their  name  blotted  out  of 
the  Book  of  Life  (iii.  5). 


CHAPTER  V 

Its  Mamtenance 

rHE  Christian  life  does  not  begin 
full  grown,  strong  and  perfect. 
It  begins  in  small  ways  and  grows 
as  we  know  more  about  Christ  and  learn 
the   lessons   of    experience.      After    the 
new  birth  we  are  but  as  little  children. 
We   are    beginners.     We    are    learners. 
Never  in  this  world  do  we  attain  to  ab- 
solute perfection  ;  yet  we  should  always 
strive  to  be  perfect,  keeping  ever  before 
us  the  sinless  life  of  Jesus  as  our  example. 
But  while  the  Christian  life  begins  in 
a  feeble  way  we  must  make  sure  that  it 
89 


90  The  Christian  Life 

does  not  stay  feeble.  I  saw  in  a  child's 
book  not  long  since  the  question :  ''  What 
is  the  largest  room  in  the  world  ? "  The 
answer  was  given  :  '^  Room  for  improve- 
ment." Every  one  making  an  earnest 
start  in  the  Christian  life  soon  becomes 
conscious  that  a  large  degree  of  improve- 
ment is  necessary  before  his  character 
makes  anything  near  an  approach  to 
what  it  ought  to  be.  The  law  of  the 
individual  Christian  life,  as  well  as  of  His 
kingdom,  as  announced  by  Jesus,  ''  First 
the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full 
grain  in  the  ear  '*  (Mark  iv.  26-29),  is 
growth.  We  should  never  be  content 
with  mere  beginnings,  but  should  ever 
strive  to  reach  maturity  and  perfection. 

Use  of  Means 

Ordinarily,  in  His  works  of  providence, 
God  acts  through  means.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  there  should  be 
means  of  grace,  and  that  our  growth  in 
the  Christian  life  should  depend  on  our 


Its   Maintenance  91 

diligent  use  of  them.  It  is  thus  that 
Christ  maintains  and  develops  His  life  in 
us. 

Of  course  the  very  first  condition  of 
maintenance  of  and  growth  in  the  Chris- 
tian life  is  to  be  vitally  connected  with 
Christ.  We  cannot  grow  unless  we  are 
alive.  ''  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  the 
life  ;  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God 
hath  not  the  life  "  (I.  John  v.  12).  It 
matters  not  how  favorable  our  environ- 
ment, if  we  have  not  spiritual  life  in  the 
Son  we  cannot  grow. 

Abide  in  Christ 

But  having  this  life  begun  in  us,  how 
is  it  to  be  maintained  and  increased? 
Jesus  Himself  tells  us  the  first  condition. 
It  is  that  of  abiding  in  Him.  ''  Abide  in 
me  and  I  in  you.  As  the  branch  cannot 
bear  fruit  of  itself,  except  it  abide  in 
the  vine  ;  so  neither  can  ye,  except  ye 
abide  in  me.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the 
branches  :  he  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I 


92  The  Christian  Life 

in  him,  the  same  beareth  much  fruit : 
for  apart  from  me  ye  can  do  nothing.  If 
a  man  abide  not  in  me,  he  is  cast  forth  as 
a  branch,  and  is  withered "  (John  xv. 
4-7).  Jesus  here  compares  Himself  to  a 
vine,  and  His  disciples  to  branches  in  the 
vine.  Some  branches  continued  in  the 
vine,  that  is,  remained  in  living  union  with 
the  vine,  so  that  the  sap  or  life  of  the 
vine  constantly  flowed  into  them.  They 
had  no  independent  life  of  their  own. 
Everything  in  them  was  simply  the  out- 
come of  the  life  of  the  vine  flowing  into 
them.  Their  buds,  their  leaves,  their 
blossoms,  their  fruit,  were  really  not 
theirs,  but  the  buds  and  leaves  and  blos- 
soms and  fruit  of  the  vine.  Other 
branches  were  completely  severed  from 
the  vine,  or  else  the  flow  of  sap  or  life  of 
the  vine  into  them  was  in  some  way 
hindered. 

The  plain  teaching  of  Jesus  then  is 
this,  that  to  abide  in  Him  is  to  renounce 
all  life  independent  of  Him,  and  look  to 


Its   Maintenance  93 

Him  for  the  inflow  of  His  life  into  us, 
and  the  outworking  of  His  life  through 
us.  It  means  the  giving  up  of  self-life — 
utterly  renouncing  every  thought,  pur- 
pose, desire  and  affection  of  our  own  and 
just  looking  day  by  day  and  hour  by 
hour  for  Jesus  to  form  His  thoughts. 
His  purposes.  His  desires,  His  affections 
in  us.  This  is  at  least  the  privilege  of  all 
Christians  and  is  the  way  to  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Christian  life  in  its  hap- 
piest and  fullest  measure. 

Abide  in  His  Love 

In  two  verses  following  those  just 
quoted  Jesus  changes  from  the  figure  of 
the  vine  to  the  fact  of  a  personal  relation 
between  Himself  and  His  disciples,  as 
between  friend  and  friend.  He  bids 
them  abide  in  His  love.  He  says,  "  As 
the  Father  hath  loved  me,  I  also  have 
loved  you:  abide  ye  in  my  love.  If  ye 
keep  my  commandments  ye  shall  abide 
in  my  love  ;    even  as  I  have  kept   my 


94  The  Christian  Life 

Father's  commandments,  and  abide  in 
His  love  "  (John  xv.  9-11).  Plants  grow 
in  the  sunshine.  The  love  of  Christ  is 
the  sunshine  of  the  soul.  To  grow  in 
the  Christian  life  we  must  keep  as  much 
as  possible  out  under  the  clear  shining  of 
the  glorious  ''Sun  of  Righteousness.'' 
Spiritual  health  and  beauty  and  happiness 
and  serviceableness  are  the  sure  results. 

Prayer 

One  of  the  most  important  means  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  life  which  we 
are  considering  is  prayer,  and  upon  this 
Jesus  laid  strong  and  often  recurring 
emphasis.  He  Himself  set  us  an  ex- 
ample of  a  prayerful  life.  When  He 
was  baptized,  entering  upon  His  public 
ministry.  He  prayed,  and  the  heavens 
opened  in  response  (Luke  iii.  21,  22). 
Before  He  chose  His  twelve  apostles  He 
continued  all  night  in  prayer  (Luke  vi. 
12,  13).  He  prayed  in  the  mountains 
(Matt.  xiv.   23  ;  Mark  vi.  46 ;  Luke  ix. 


Its   Maintenance  95 

28),  in  the  wilderness  (Luke  v.  16),  before 
day  (Mark  i.  35),  in  distress  (John  xii. 
27),  in  behalf  of  Peter  (Luke  xxii.  31,  32), 
for  the  Comforter  (John  xiv.  16),  in 
Gethsemane  (Matt.  xxvi.  36 ;  Mark  xiv. 
32 ;  Luke  xxii.  45),  after  the  supper 
(John  xvii.),  and  on  many  other  recorded 
occasions.  If  Jesus  needed  this  inter- 
course and  communion  with  the  Father 
to  fit  Him  for  and  support  Him  in  His 
work,  how  much  more  do  His  disciples  ! 

Taught  Us  to  Pray 

He  also  taught  us  to  pray,  and  gave  us 
that  wonderful  model  of  prayer  in  the 
so-called  Lord's  Prayer  (Matt.  vi.  9-13). 
At  the  same  time  He  taught  the  duty 
and  privilege  of  closet  prayer  (Matt.  vi. 
5-8),  assuring  us  that  God  both  hears  and 
answers.  He  taught  us  the  importance 
of  prayer  (Luke  xi.  5-8),  constancy  in 
prayer  (Matt.  xxvi.  41),  importunity  in 
prayer  (Luke  xviii.  2-5),  and  assured  us 
over  and  over  again  that  by  asking  we 


96  The  Christian  Life 

shall  surely  receive  (Matt.  vii.  7-11  ; 
Luke  xi.  9-13  ;  John  xiv.  13  ;  xvi.  23). 
Prayer  is  an  especial  means  of  grace  be- 
cause of  its  effect  upon  us,  for  nothing 
can  so  tend  to  make  one  holy  as  com- 
munion with  God  Himself  ;  and  because 
also  of  its  power  with  God,  as  revealed 
in  Jesus'  own  words.  If  prayer  did  not 
have  this  power  with  God,  it  would  lose 
its  power  in  us  ;  for  no  benefit  could 
come  from  communion  with  a  God  who 
encouraged  petition  though  knowing  it 
to  be  an  empty  form.  But  our  assurance 
is  founded  upon  Jesus'  definite  and  oft 
repeated  statements  that  God  can  answer 
our  prayers  and  do  the  things  we  ask 
Him  to  do  ;  also  that  He  will  do  so,  for 
which  He  has  made  many  clear  and  cer- 
tain promises.  The  fact,  too,  that  He  is 
our  Father,  and  has  all  power,  is  assur- 
ance enough  that  He  not  only  can  but 
will  hear  our  requests  and  do  for  us  the 
things  we  ask  Him  to  do,  so  far  as  they 
will  be  for  our  good  and  for  His  glory. 


Its  Maintenance  97 

Our  Vital  Breath 
Well  has  prayer  been  spoken  of  as  the 
Christian's  vital  breath.  We  cannot  live 
without  breathing.  We  cannot  maintain 
the  spiritual  life  without  prayer.  In 
prayer  we  find  help  for  all  weakness, 
light  for  all  darkness,  comfort  in  all  sor- 
row, friendship  in  all  heart-hunger.  If 
we  know  how  to  get  help  in  prayer,  we 
need  never  fail  at  any  point  in  life  ;  for 
then  all  God 's  might  of  love  is  ever  back 
of  our  weakness,  as  the  great  ocean  is 
back  of  the  little  bay. 

Bible  Nourishment 
If  to  keep  in  the  sunshine  of  God's 
love  and  to  breathe  the  pure  air  of  prayer 
are  helps  to  maintain  and  beautify  the 
Christian  life,  then  why  may  we  not  use 
another  analogy  and  consider  how  im- 
portant it  is  that  we  eat  good  food  ? 
Bible-fed  Christians  are  strong  Christians, 
vigorous,  active,  growing.  Those  who 
neglect  the    Bible  are  weak  and  sickly, 


98  The  Christian  Life 

discontented  and  inefficient.  Jesus' 
teachings  concerning  the  use  of  the 
Scriptures  are  as  definite,  as  urgent,  and 
equally  frequent  with  those  concerning 
prayer.  ''  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread 
alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God  '"  (Matt.  iv.  4). 
**Ye  search  the  Scriptures,  because  ye 
think  that  in  them  ye  have  eternal  life  ; 
and  these  are  they  which  bear  witness  of 
me "  (John  v.  39).  '*  Blessed  are  they 
that  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  keep  it" 
(Luke  xi.  28).  He  says  that  we  are 
""  made  clean  "  through  the  word  (John 
XV.  3),  that  the  truth  ''makes  us  free" 
(John  viii.  32),  that  ''the  seed  is  the 
word  of  God"  which  if  sown  in  the 
heart  and  "  held  fast  "  will  bring  forth  an 
abundant  and  blessed  harvest  (Luke  viii. 
5-15).  He  used  the  Scriptures  Himself 
and  quoted  constantly  from  them,  the 
occasions  being  too  numerous  to  mention 
here.  In  His  prayer  after  establishing 
the  Lord's  Supper  one  of  the  things  He 


Its  Maintenance  99 

said  of  the  disciples,  speaking  gratefully 
to  the  Father,  was,  *'  I  have  given  them 
Thy  Word  "  (John  xvii.  14).  He  Him- 
self used  God's  word  in  overcoming 
Satan  (Matt.  iv.  4,  7,  10 ;  Luke  iv.  4,  8, 
12).  It  is  certainly  an  indispensable  help 
in  the  Christian  life.  If  in  prayer  we 
talk  to  God,  then  in  the  Bible  God  speaks 
to  us.  The  first  disciples  heard  the  words 
of  divine  truth  as  they  dropped  directly 
from  the  lips  of  Jesus.  They  could  bring 
their  questions  right  to  Him  and  He 
would  answer  them.  They  could  ask 
Him  what  He  wanted  them  to  do,  and 
He  would  tell  them.  When  they  were  in 
sorrow,  the  words  of  comfort  fell  warm 
and  tender  from  the  very  lips  of  Jesus. 
One  of  His  friends  sat  at  His  feet  and 
listened  reverently  and  lovingly  to  His  in- 
structions. Another  leaned  his  head  on 
Jesus'  bosom,  whispering  his  confidential 
questions  and  receiving  answers.  An  in- 
quirer came  to  Him  by  night  and  had  a 
long  talk  with  Him  about  the  way  to  be 


loo         The  Christian  Life 

saved.  Those  were  certainly  wonderful 
days  when  God  Himself,  in  the  person  of 
His  Son,  was  here  on  the  earth  in  human 
form,  speaking  in  the  actual  tones  of  hu- 
man speech  the  words  of  life  and  answer- 
ing men*s  questions  with  His  own  lips. 

The  Divine  Voice 

That  day  is  past;  for  we  cannot  any 
more  hear  the  Divine  Voice  as  men  heard 
it  then.  Yet  God  is  not  silent.  He  still 
speaks.  We  can  still  bring  our  questions 
and  He  will  answer  them.  We  can  still 
sit  at  Jesus'  feet  and  hear  His  words.  We 
can  still  rest  our  heads  on  His  bosom  in 
our  sorrow  and  listen  to  His  assurances 
of  love.  We  can  still  ask  Him  how  to 
be  saved,  and  get  a  plain,  clear  answer. 
God  now  speaks  to  us  in  His  written 
word.  Oh,  how  we  ought  to  rejoice  in 
it ;  how  we  ought  to  read  it,  and  love  it, 
and  use  it !  God's  love-letter  to  us ! 
How  it  should  quicken  the  heart-throbs 
and  fill  our  souls  v/ith  rapture  and  with 


Its   Maintenance  loi 

fresh  and  holy  resolve  !  The  word  of 
God  is  meant  to  be  a  means  of  grace, 
that  is,  a  definite  means  and  help  in  living 
the  Christian  life  and  in  reaching  forward 
to  the  highest  Christian  attainment.  The 
Bible  contains  precisely  the  spiritual 
nourishment  needed  for  the  Christian 
life  in  all  its  stages. 

The  Church 

Another  important  means  of  spiritual 
nourishment  is  the  Church,  with  its  sac- 
raments and  services.  No  one  can  have 
the  highest  success  in  the  Christian  life 
without  the  fellowship  of  other  believers. 
The  Church  is  a  Divine  institution,  built 
by  Jesus  Himself.  It  is  the  one  institu- 
tion that  abides.  Other  institutions  come 
and  go  ;  they  do  their  work  for  their  day 
and  disappear ;  but  the  Church  will  con- 
tinue to  the  end.  ''  The  gates  of  Hades 
shall  not  prevail  against  it  "  (Matt.  xvi.  18). 
This  is  Jesus'  own  promise.  The 
Church  is  made  up  of  men  and  women, 


I02        The  Christian  Life 

imperfect  men  and  women,  and  conse- 
quently it  is  an  imperfect  institution  ;  but 
none  the  less  it  is  of  Divine  origin  and 
God  loves  it,  and  every  believer  should 
realize  that  he  belongs  to  it  and  should 
openly  take  his  place  in  it  and  bear  his 
responsibilities  regarding  it.  Besides,  we 
need  the  Church  as  a  spiritual  home, 
where  we  find  spiritual  companionship, 
where  our  interests  centre,  where  our 
hearts  are  fixed,  where  our  souls  are  fed. 
Our  souls  need  the  Church  and  its  ordi- 
nances as  our  bodies  need  bread  ;  and  the 
Christian  who  willingly  neglects  the  spir- 
itual nourishment  and  inspiration  thus  to 
be  obtained  must  inevitably  become  weak 
in  faith,  cold  in  love  and  sickly  in  soul. 
We  need  the  Church  as  a  place  in  which 
to  grow  spiritually  strong. 

Jesus  Example  and  Teaching 

Here  again  we  have  both  the  example 
and  teachings  of  Jesus.  In  connection 
with  one  of  His  visits  to  Nazareth  we  are 


Its  Maintenance  103 

told  that  He  entered  ''  as  His  custom  was, 
into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day  " 
(Luke  iv.  16).  He  gave  special  promises 
also  to  those  who  should  unite  in  the 
services  of  God's  worship.  He  said,  "'  If 
two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touch- 
ing anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall 
be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven ''  (Matt,  xviii.  19),  thus  implying 
that  as  added  strands  make  the  cable 
stronger,  so  added  hearts  in  prayer  make 
the  supplication  more  availing.  He  also 
gave  a  definite  promise  of  His  own  pres- 
ence where  even  two  or  three  of  His 
disciples  shall  meet  in  His  name  (Matt, 
xviii.  20).  It  was  when  His  disciples 
were  ^'  all  together  in  one  place ''  that 
He  poured  out  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
them  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  1, 
2).  He  not  only  established  the  Church, 
gave  and  fulfilled  promises  to  it,  but  He 
also  instituted  its  sacraments.  These  are 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  holy  ordi- 
nances instituted  by  Himself,  *'  wherein, 


I04         The  Christian  Life 

by  sensible  signs,  Christ  and  the  bene- 
fits of  the  new  covenant  are  represented, 
sealed  and  applied  to  believers/'  At  the 
same  time  He  instituted  baptism  He 
commanded  preaching  and  teaching.  He 
said,  *'A11  authority  hath  been  given  unto 
me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye 
therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the 
nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of 
the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit :  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you  : 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world"  (Matt,  xxviii. 
18-20).  He  instituted  also,  as  already 
noted,  the  Lord's  Supper  (Matt.  xxvi. 
26-28;  Luke  xxii.  19,  20 ;  I.  Cor.  xi.  24, 
25),  and  commanded  its  observance,  say- 
ing, "This  do  in  remembrance  of  me." 
These  and  all  the  ordinances  of  the 
Church,  with  Christian  worship  and  fel- 
lowship, are  intended  of  God  to  be  means 
of  spiritual  nourishment  and  growth  in 
grace  to  His  people.     They  are  intended 


Its   Maintenmice  105 

also  for  the  strengthening  and  preparing 
of  His  people  for  the  carrying  of  His 
Gospel  to  others. 

Work 

This  means  work,  exercise  ;  which  cer- 
tainly is  as  essential  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  Christian  Ufe  as  is  breathing  pure  air 
or  eating  good  food.     Jesus  was  a  worker 
— '*  My  Father  worketh  even  until  now, 
and  I  work"  (John  v.  17) — and  He  wants 
us  to  work.      We  grow  in  knowledge  by 
activity.     ''If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His 
will   he   shall    know    of    the    teaching, 
whether  it  is  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak 
from  myself  "  (John  vii.  17).     Doing  is  a 
mode  of  study.     We  also  grow  in  power 
by  activity.       As  our  bodies  are    devel- 
oped  and   strengthened    by  exercise    so 
are  our   souls   by  Christian  work.     Shut 
up  a  horse  in  a  stable  for  months  without 
exercise  and  it  will  surely  die.     An  Eng- 
lish physician  told  his  rich  invalid  patient : 
''Go  to  work;  live  on  a  shilling  a  day 


io6         The  Cliristian  Life 

and  earn  it!''  He  knew  that  the  man's 
main  need  was  exercise.  So  in  spiritual 
things.  There  is  nothing  Hke  exercise 
to  keep  people  warm  and  well.  The 
wise  physician  of  souls  might  well  pre- 
scribe for  many  sick  Christians  the  exer- 
cise cure.  He  is  wise  that  seeks  to  save 
souls.  He  is  wise  for  his  own  sake  as 
well  as  for  others'  sake.  Like  the  Al- 
pine traveller  who  attempted  to  rescue 
his  freezing  friend,  we  find  that  saving 
others  is  saving  ourselves.  Warmth  and 
new  life  came  to  the  rescuer  in  the  act 
of  carrying  the  other  to  a  place  of  safety. 
Warmth  and  health  and  blessedness  come 
to  us  as  Christians  in  the  act  of  putting 
forth  efforts  for  others. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Its  Joyful  Experiences 

rHERE  are  those  who  will  have  it 
that  personal  religion  narrows  the 
soul  and  contracts  the  life.  They 
say  that  religion's  pleasures  are  few,  its 
prohibitions  innumerable  and  fixed,  with 
nothing  to  do  but  repeat  in  each  sensitive 
ear  its  ''Thou  shalt,"  or  ''Thou  shalt 
not,"  with  th*^  discord  of  a  perpetual  com- 
mand. Ever^  good  people  are  sometimes 
misled  into  the  thought  that  life  is  in  some 
way  narrowed  down  and  circumscribed 
by  religion ;    while  many  who  are  not 

107 


io8         The  Christian  Life 

Christians  are  deterred  from  ever  becom- 
ing such  by  this  same  misunderstanding, 
or  misconception.  But  the  system  of 
faith  and  practice  which  Jesus  came  to 
proclaim  admits  of  no  such  moroseness, 
severity,  or  gloomy  views ;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  proposes  to  bring  in  as  its  own  free 
gift  a  new  and  increased  experience  of 
every  kind  that  renders  life  valuable,  wor- 
thy and  worth  living.  So  it  is  that  when 
we  urge  religion  upon  any  one  and  the 
spoken  or  unspoken  excuse  is,  "  Oh,  but 
I  want  to  see  more  of  life  first,''  the 
Gospel,  as  if  anticipating  the  objection,  or 
rebuking  the  one  who  utters  it,  answers, 
''  Very  well,  but  you  are  making  a  great 
mistake,  for  the  Redeemer  came  that  you 
may  have  life,  and  that  you  may  have 
it  abundantly."  In  other  words,  this  is 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  that  the  devoted 
Christian  life  is  a  fuller  life,  a  freer  life,  a 
brighter,  more  welcome,  more  joyous, 
more  abounding  life  than  any  other  life 
whatsoever. 


Its  Joyful  Experiences      109 

Enrichment  of  Life 

Why,  some  people  live  as  much  in  ten 
years  as  others  would  in  fifty.  Under 
certain  conditions  life  is  wonderfully  en- 
riched. ''Better  fifty  years  of  Europe 
than  a  cycle  of  Cathay."  Jesus  gives  those 
connected  by  faith  with  Him  an  added 
capacity  for  life,  an  added  talent  for  Ufe, 
an  added  amount  of  life  ;  so  that  a  Chris- 
tian actually  lives  more  in  the  same  length 
of  time  than  one  who  is  not  a  Christian. 

His  blessing  for  His  people  is  not  that 
they  may  simply  have  life,  but  that  they 
may  have  it  abundantly.  This  is  what  He 
Himself  said.  It  was  in  connection  with 
that  pearl  of  parables,  the  Good  Shepherd, 
in  the  tenth  chapter  of  John.  He  was  tell- 
ing why  He  left  the  throne  for  the  man- 
ger and  the  cross,  and  adds,  as  expressing 
the  very  climax  of  His  mission  :  ''I 
came  that  they  may  have  life,  and  may 
have  it  abundantly''  (John  x.  10). 

He    gives  this  abundant  life  in  many 


no         The  Christian  Life 

ways,  among  which  are  these, — by  en- 
larging the  capacity  of  the  soul,  by  mul- 
tiplying the  resources  of  the  soul,  and  by 
quickening  the  susceptibilities  of  the  soul. 

Enlarged  Capacity 

Not  long  ago  I  made  the  acquaintance 
of  a  young  girl  who  is  nearsighted.  Until 
she  was  nearly  eight  years  of  age  neither 
she  nor  her  parents  realized  her  lack. 
But  finding  that  she  had  difficulty  in 
studying  at  school  they  took  her  to  an  oc- 
ulist who  furnished  her  with  suitable 
glasses.  When  she  put  them  on  and 
looked  about,  she  exclaimed :  *'  Why, 
Mamma,  I  can  see  the  grass,  that  it  has 
separate  blades,  and  the  trees,  that  they 
have  separate  leaves.  I  could  never  see 
so  before,  for  they  always  appeared  like 
one  mass  of  green.''  We  know  the  se- 
cret. She  could  see  more  and  better 
simply  because  her  capacity  for  seeing 
was  enlarged.  Just  so  it  is  with  religion 
in  the  soul,  it  enlarges  its  capacity.     Be- 


Its  Joyful  Experiences      1 1 1 

fore,  the  eyes  of  the  understanding  were 
darkened,  and  there  was  blindness  in  the 
heart.  Now,  the  whole  being  is  brought 
out  of  darkness  into  God's  marvelous 
light.  There  are  beauties  the  unregen- 
erate  heart  can  never  see.  There  are 
joys  it  can  never  know.  ''  And  Elisha 
prayed,  and  said,  Jehovah,  I  pray  thee, 
open  his  eyes,  that  he  may  see.  And 
Jehovah  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young 
man ;  and  he  saw :  and,  behold,  the 
mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots 
of  fire  round  about  Elisha  "  (II.  Kings  vi. 
17).  Just  so  with  us  is  the  opening  of 
our  spiritual  vision  but  a  superadded  ca- 
pacity to  see.  To  the  renewed  soul  it 
becomes  actually  true  that  the  whole 
landscape  of  life,  its  mountains  and  its 
valleys,  are  filled  with  the  horses  and 
chariots  of  God's  hitherto  unseen  power 
and  protecting  care  and  manifestations  of 
love. 

In  innumerable  ways  the  Christian  has 
the  advantage  over    one   who   is   not  a 


1 1 2         The  Christian  Life 

Christian.  His  field  of  vision  is  wider 
and  more  far-reaching,  because  it  takes  in 
things  spiritual  and  therefore  eternal. 
His  cup  of  blessing  is  not  only  fuller,  but 
it  holds  more.  While  others  may  have 
real  earthly  joys,  Jesus'  follower  has  these 
and  the  joys  of  the  Christian  added. 
Not  only  can  he  say,  ''  My  cup  runneth 
over,"  but  he  can  add,  ''  My  heart  hast 
Thou  enlarged." 

Spiritual  Verities 

The  abundant  life  of  the  Christian, 
then,  is  the  fulness  of  a  rich  experience 
of  spiritual  verities.  Xerxes  of  old  of- 
fered a  prize  for  the  invention  of  a  new 
pleasure,  but  no  pleasuring  of  the  world- 
ling can  for  one  moment  compare  in  rich- 
ness of  joy  with  the  ecstacy  of  that  soul 
into  which  is  poured  the  fulness  of  a  con- 
secrating love.  As  the  Christian's  joy 
exceeds  that  of  the  worlding  so  does  it 
also  exceed  that  of  the  follower  of  any 
false  religion.     Jesus  spoke  not  only  of 


Its  Joyful  Experiences      113 

the  abundant  life  of  His  followers,  but 
also  of  their  liberty.  He  said,  "  If  there- 
fore the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall 
be  free  indeed  "  (John  viii.  36).  While 
false  religions  have  a  tendency  to  limit, 
degenerate,  degrade,  enslave  and  destroy 
men,  true  religion  is  designed  and 
adapted  to  give  to  men  more  abundant 
life,  higher  freedom,  truer  liberty,  better 
manhood,  in  time,  and  for  eternity.  It 
is  profitable  both  for  the  life  that  nov^  is 
and  for  that  v^hich  is  to  come. 

In    the    verse    quoted,    v^here    Jesus 
speaks    of    His    people    as    having    life 
and  having  it  abundantly,  it  should  be 
noticed  that  the  *4t"  is  italicized,  v^hich 
means  that  it  is  not  in  the  original.     The 
literal   translation    of    the    Greek    is    in 
the    margin    of    the    Revised    Version, 
^'have   abundance. '^     The   statement   is 
that    Jesus   came   that    His   sheep,    His 
followers,   might   not   only  have  life  in 
its   fulness,    exuberance  of  life,    but   all 
things  added   to  it  which  will  make  it 
H 


114         ^^^  Christian  Life 

supremely   happy   both   now   and  here- 
after. 

Religion  s  Pleasant  Ways 

It  is  not  religion,  but  the  lack  of  it 
that  makes  people  unhappy.  Yet  how 
strangely  and  how  widely  the  opposite 
view  prevails.  There  are  many  who 
think  of  religion  not  only  as  a  galling 
drudgery,  but  as  the  surest  source  of 
moroseness,  melancholy  and  unhappiness 
of  life.  Their  idea  is  that  religion  is  a  sys- 
tem of  suffering  to  which  many  people  are 
willing  to  submit  here  in  order  that  they 
may  not  suffer  hereafter, — that  religion's 
only  happiness  is  in  the  future,  its  rewards 
after  death.  Instead,  the  real  fact  is  that 
religion  as  Jesus  taught  it  is  a  thing 
of  present  joy  and  of  ever  continuing 
blessedness.  It  is  the  gladdest,  sweetest, 
happiest  thing  in  all  this  world.  **  Her 
ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her 
paths  are  peace"  (Prov.  iii.  17).  It  is 
religion  that  gives  us  the  brightest  things 


Its  Joyful  Experie7ices      1 1 5 

in  life  and  sin  the  dark  things,  not  vice 
versa.  ReHgion  goes  down  to  the  deep- 
est springs  of  our  mental,  moral  and 
spiritual  well-being.  It  brings  untold 
measures  of  peace  and  joy.  It  takes  the 
sting  out  of  the  past.  It  takes  the  worry 
out  of  the  present.  It  takes  the  fear  out 
of  the  future. 

The  calling  of  Jesus  is  always  an  up- 
ward calling.  He  never  calls  us  from 
larger  things  to  smaller.  He  never  calls 
us  to  shrunken  conditions.  He  calls  us 
for  our  welfare,  for  our  enlargement,  for 
power,  for  benediction.  He  is  always 
calling  "  Up  !  Up !  Up !  "  to  His  followers. 
Blessed  is  the  man  that  answers  when 
the  call  upward  and  onward  comes. 

Blessedness 

It  was  the  sneer  of  an  early  skeptic 
that  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  the 
sorrowful.  No,  he  was  an  enemy  of 
Christianity,  and  most  deeply  mistaken. 
Instead,    Christianity   is  the    religion  of 


ii6         The  Christian  Life 

the  joyful.  No  one  who  makes  even  a 
little  study  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  can 
fail  of  being  impressed  with  the  fre- 
quency of  His  references  to  and  the 
emphasis  He  laid  upon  the  fact  of  the 
blessedness  of  the  Christian  life.  The 
first  utterances  of  His  wonderful  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  were  a  series  of  *'  Blesseds" 
whose  depth  of  meaning  no  one  can 
over-state  (Matt.  v.  3-12).  Over  and 
over  again  He  said  to  His  disciples,  **  Be 
of  good  cheer"  (Matt.  xiv.  27  ;  Mark  vi. 
50 ;  John  xvi.  33).  He  told  how  He 
gives  to  His  followers  the  water  of  life, 
which  not  only  quenches  soul-thirst  for 
the  time,  but  also  becomes  *'in"  them 
*'a  well  of  water  springing  up  into 
eternal  life"  (John  iv.  14),  a  constant 
source  of  life  and  strength  and  satisfac- 
tion and  joy. 

The  Well  in  the  Foundations 

In   the    ruins   of    nearly    all    the    old 
feudal  castles  of  England  one  may  find 


Its  Joy  fid  Experie^tces      1 1 7 

somewhere,  deep  sunk  in  the  founda- 
tions, a  rubbish-filled  well.  What  does 
this  mean  ?  It  means  that  the  owner 
of  the  castle  always  had  in  the  heart 
of  his  citadel  a  pure,  never-failing  supply 
of  water  upon  which  to  depend  in  case 
he  was  besieged  by  an  enemy.  He 
would  never  have  to  go  outside  his 
fortress  to  get  that  chief  necessity  of  life. 
So  is  it  with  the  soul  that  has  digged 
a  place  deep  within  itself  for  the  pres- 
ence of  Christ  to  enter  and  fill.  That  is 
the  well  in  the  foundations  of  life.  Not 
to  have  to  go  outside  one's  self  for 
the  water  of  life — that  is  the  secret  of 
peace  and  courage  and  joy.  The  enemy 
may  camp  round  about  us,  may  cut  us 
off  from  outside  help  and  resource,  but 
so  long  as  we  have  the  supply  of  Divine 
help  and  comfort  within,  we  can  bid 
him  defiance.  How  many  lives  have 
gone  down  before  the  power  of  evil 
because  they  had  no  well  of  Divine 
strength  and  comfort  deep  within  them- 


ii8         The  Christian  Life 

selves.  They  could  resist  for  a  brief 
season,  perhaps,  but  after  that  their  re- 
sources were  spent.  No  soul  can  conquer 
evil  unless  it  has  the  indwelling  Christ 
to  sustain  it.  All  its  moral  strength, 
all  its  proud  determination,  are  only  like 
so  many  shallow  tubs  and  pails  of  water 
that  have  been  hurriedly  brought  within 
the  fortress.  A  few  days'  siege  exhausts 
them,  and  then  it  must  yield  ;  there  is  no 
other  way. 

But  how  different  the  condition  and 
reliance  of  the  Christian.  Oh,  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  man  who  has  the  well  of 
living  water  deep  down  in  the  founda- 
tions of  his  being,  fed  by  the  springs 
of  Divine  love!  With  God  in  his  soul 
he  cannot  be  overcome.  Every  day  the 
pure,  life-giving  flow  brings  him  fresh 
strength  and  courage  and  hope.  Christ 
is  the  well  in  the  foundations.  It  is 
the  privilege  of  every  Christian  to  drink 
from  Him.  He  is  both  the  Spring 
and  the  Giver  of  its  life-giving  flow.     He 


Its  Joy  foil  Experiences     1 1 9 

invites  us  to  drink,  to  drink  freely,  and 
says  of  each  one  who  participates,  "  The 
water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  become 
in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto 
eternal  life."  *' Jesus  said  unto  them,  I 
am  the  bread  of  life :  he  that  cometh 
to  me  shall  not  hunger,  and  he  that 
belie veth  on  me  shall  never  thirst "  (John 
vi.  35).  ''  Now  on  the  last  day,  the 
great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood  and 
cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  me  and  drink.  He  that  be- 
lieveth  on  me,  as  the  Scripture  hath  said, 
from  within  him  shall  flow  rivers  of  living 
water" (John  vii.  37,  38). 

Peace 

But  the  teaching  of  Jesus  makes  plain 
that  the  blessedness  of  the  Christian 
contains  other  elements  besides  abound- 
ing life  and  spiritual  health.  He  had 
much  to  say  also  regarding  the  peace 
His  followers  should  enjoy.  This  was 
one  of  the  richest  and  sweetest  legacies 


I20  The  Christian  Life 

He  left  His  disciples.  He  said,  "  Peace 
I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give 
unto  you''  (John  xiv.  27).  And  it  is 
a  special  kind  or  quality  of  peace  He 
here  promised.  The  emphasis  is  upon 
the  word  '*My.''  "My  peace  I  give 
unto  you.''  The  peace  Christ  gives! 
It  is  the  same  deep,  abiding,  blessed 
peace  He  enjoyed.  The  peace  Jesus 
had  and  gives  is  something  different 
from  what  the  world  calls  peace.  It 
is  not  the  peace  of  affluence,  nor  the 
peace  of  tranquillity,  nor  the  peace  of 
congenial  surroundings.  These  may  or 
may  not  accompany  peace.  The  peace 
Jesus  had  was  something  deeper  and 
worthier.  Sin  is  war.  Sin  is  strife.  Sin 
puts  discord  into  our  lives.  Conscious 
of  sin  we  cannot  be  at  peace.  But 
Jesus'  peace  was  the  peace  of  sinlessness. 
In  the  midst  of  all  His  press  of  work 
and  the  disturbances  that  surrounded 
Him  He  had  the  peace  of  conscious 
integrity,  the  peace  of  oneness  with  His 


Its  Joyful  Experiences      1 2 1 

Father — the  peace  of  sinlessness.  This 
is  one  element  of  the  peace  He  gives  us. 
He  gives  us  the  peace  of  pardon  (Luke 
vii.  47-50),  the  peace  of  justification, 
(John  iii.  18).  Through  our  acceptance  of 
His  righteousness  He  gives  us  the  peace 
of  an  imputed  sinlessness.  He  makes  us 
free  from  sin  and  to  enjoy  the  deep 
and  abiding  peace  of  one  accounted  just 
before  God.  He  gives  us  also  peace 
of  character.  He  had  the  peace  of  a 
sound,  stable,  right-centred  character, 
in  which  there  was  no  internal  discord 
or  struggle.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  possess 
a  right-centred,  unified  character.  We 
do  not  easily  attain  unto  it.  Too  often 
we  approve  the  right  but  do  the  wrong. 
We  are  dual  characters,  torn  by  conflicts 
within.  But  Jesus'  peace  was  that  of 
confirmed  character,  sound,  stable,  uni- 
fied. This  is  the  peace  He  gives  His 
disciples  as  fast  and  as  fully  as  they 
will  accept  it;  and  it  is  one  of  His 
greatest    gifts.      Then,    too,    He    gives 


122         The  Christian  Life 

the  peace  of  abiding  trustfulness.  This 
peace,  also,  Jesus  had.  How  often 
we  hear  Him  exclaiming,  *'My  Father/* 
and  showing  the  utmost  confidence  in 
His  wish  and  will.  It  is  this  peace,  also. 
He  gives  us  when  He  says,  ""  My  peace  I 
give  unto  you,"  enabling  us  truly  to 
exclaim,  **  I  worship  thee,  sweet  will 
of  God,"  and  say,  **  In  His  will  is  my 
peace."  (C/.  John  xvi.  33 ;  Luke  vii.  47  ; 
Luke  viii.  48.) 

The  Father  s  Care 

The  teachings  of  Jesus  warrant  us  also 
to  joy  greatly  in  the  thought  of  our  Fa- 
ther's loving  protection  and  care.  Over 
and  over  again  He  assures  us  that  our 
Heavenly  Father  knoweth  what  things 
we  have  need  of  (Matt.  vi.  8,  32  ;  Luke 
xii.  22),  rebukes  fear  in  us  (Matt.  viii.  26), 
and  tells  of  the  uselessness  and  unwisdom 
of  anv  anxious  thought  (Matt.  vi.  24-34  ; 
X.  19,  29-31;  Luke  xii.  6,  7,  24-28). 
He  tells  us  not  only  of  our  temporal  wel- 


Its  Joyful  Experiences      1 23 

fare,  but  also  of  our  eternal  security  in 
God.  He  tells  how  the  sincere  Christian 
is  like  one  '*  who  digged  and  went  deep, 
and  laid  a  foundation  upon  the  rock" 
(Luke  vi.  47-49).  He  says  that  He  is  the 
Good  Shepherd,  the  One  on  whom  His 
people  depend,  and  adds,  ''  My  sheep 
hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them, 
and  they  follow  me :  and  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall  never 
perish,  and  no  one  shall  snatch  them  out 
of  my  hand.  My  Father,  who  hath 
given  them  unto  me,  is  greater  than  all ; 
and  no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of 
the  Father's  hand"  (John  x.  27-29). 

Joy  Unspeakable 

No  wonder  the  Christian  has  joy.  No 
wonder  the  Apostle  Peter  could  exclaim, 
''  Believing,  ye  rejoice  greatly  with  joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  "  (I.  Pet. 
i.  8).  Believing,  we  rejoice.  In  other 
words,  faith  produces  joy.  The  relation 
is  that   of    inseparability,    of   cause   and 


124         The  Christian  Life 

effect.  The  believing  is  the  cause  of  the 
rejoicing.  Faith  brings  gladness.  Trust- 
ing brings  happiness.  Let  us  not  fail  to 
notice  also  the  nature  of  the  joy  faith 
produces.  It  is  *' unspeakable."  That 
is,  it  is  unspeakably  great.  It  is  also  in 
its  nature  not  a  noisy,  but  '*  a  deep  and  si- 
lent thing."  In  this  sense,  too,  it  is  *^ un- 
speakable.'' And  that  is  the  reason,  we 
doubt  not,  why  it  is  so  often  mistaken  for 
the  opposite.  Because  it  is  calm  and 
sometimes  even  grave,  the  world  thinks 
it  severe.  But,  as  has  been  said,  ''  The 
gods  approve  the  depth  and  not  the 
tumult  of  the  soul."  Joy  may  be  a  very 
quiet  thing,  a  *'calm  rapture,"  as  Jona- 
than Edwards  once  defined  it.  There 
may  be  nothing  boisterous,  tumultuous, 
hilarious  about  it.  It  is  ''joy  unspeak- 
able '' ;  not  a  thing  to  be  talked  about, 
but  to  be  felt.  But  it  is  also  joy  "  glori- 
fied." True  Christian  joy  is  glorified  joy. 
That  is,  it  has  the  glory  of  heaven  shining 
upon  it,  filling,  suffusing,  transfiguring. 


Its  Joyful  Experiences      1 25 

intensifying  it.  In  other  words,  there  is 
no  other  joy  anything  like  so  rich,  so  deep, 
so  full,  so  blessed  as  this  joy  which  comes 
with  religion,  which  springs  out  of  faith. 

Love  a  Joyous  Affection 

There  is  another  step  in  the  produc- 
tion of  joy  out  of  faith  that  must  not  be 
overlooked.  Faith  is  the  cause  of  love 
and  love  is  the  cause  of  joy.  Faith  is  to 
the  soul  what  the  eye  is  to  the  body.  It 
is  the  power  of  seeing.  It  is  a  cognition, 
or  spiritual  apprehension.  It  is  not 
merely  light,  but  discernment.  It  sees 
not  the  object  merely,  but  its  excellence 
also.  It  produces  congeniality,  or  sym- 
pathy, a  feeling  of  actual  interest  and  de- 
light. It  also  appropriates,  gives  us  the 
consciousness  that  in  some  sense  the  ob- 
ject is  ours.  This  is  the  way  in  which 
faith  in  Jesus  produces  love  to  Jesus.  It 
is  the  faculty  by  which  we  apprehend, 
approve  and  appropriate  Him.  Having 
come  thus  to  love  Him,  joy  is  the  fruit 


126         The  Christian  Life 

of  love.  Love  is  in  itself  a  joyous  affec- 
tion. It  is  in  its  nature  happy.  God  is 
love  ;  all  the  blessed  love  and  are  blest  by 
the  fact  that  they  love. 

Intimacy  with  Jesus 

Christians  have  the  joy,  too,  of  intim- 
acy with  Jesus,  the  joy  of  loving  Him 
and  of  possessing  His  love.  They  hear 
Him  saying  to  them,  *'  Even  as  the  Fa- 
ther hath  loved  me,  I  also  have  loved 
you  :  abide  ye  in  my  love  "  (John  xv.  9). 
They  know  that  He  wants  them  to  be 
happy  in  His  love,  for  He  adds,  ''  These 
things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  my 
joy  may  be  in  you,  and  that  your  joy 
may  be  made  full  "  (John  xv.  11).  They 
are  assured  of  His  welcome  to  intimacy, 
for  they  hear  Him  saying,  ''  I  have 
called  you  friends ;  for  all  things  that  I 
heard  from  my  Father  I  have  made 
known  unto  you ''  (John  xv.  15).  It 
might  be  objected  that  these  words  were 
for  His  apostles  alone,  but  He  said  they 


Its  Joyful  Experiences     127 

were  not  for  them  alone,  but  for  all  in 
all  ages  who  should  believe  on  Him 
(John  xvii.  20).  The  joy  of  companion- 
ship with  Jesus — this  is  the  privilege  of 
every  Christian.  He  says,  ''  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest"  (Matt.  xi.  28). 
The  rest  is  that  blessed  rest  of  fellowship, 
of  companionship  with  Him.  How  close 
the  relationship  into  which  He  takes 
us ;  for  again  we  hear  Him  saying, 
''  Who  is  my  mother  ?  and  who  are  my 
brethren  ?  .  .  .  Whosoever  shall  do 
the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven, 
he  is  my  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother  '' 
(Matt.  xii.  48-50).  He  says  that  to  all 
who  love  Him  He  will  manifest  Himself, 
make  Himself  known,  in  a  way  that  He 
does  not,  even  cannot  do  unto  the  world 
(John  xiv.  21-26 ;  cf.  Mark  iv.  11,  12). 

Religion  a  Joyous  Experience 

Nothing   can   be    more    certain    than 
that    Jesus'    teachings    concerning    the 


128         The  Christian  Life 

Christian  life  present  it,  and  were  in- 
tended to  present  it,  as  a  thing  of  deep 
and  abounding  joy.  He  meant  us  to 
know  that  religion  in  itself  is  a  joyous 
experience ;  and  such  Christians  in  all 
ages  have  found  it  to  be.  Religion  is  the 
normal  attitude  and  exercise  of  the  spir- 
itual nature.  It  is  spiritual  health.  As  it 
is  a  joy  to  be  able  to  see  and  to  hear  the 
beautiful  things  in  the  natural  world,  so 
it  is  immeasurably  a  greater  joy  to  be  able 
to  hear  and  to  see  the  glad  and  beautiful 
things  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Religion 
is  immeasurably  more  than  the  means  of 
securing  future  happiness.  It  is  that,  but 
it  is  also  happiness  and  well-being  now 
and  here,  and  all  the  way  along,  until  one 
comes  into  the  full  and  perfect  enjoyment 
of  the  bliss  of  heaven.  Jesus  did  tell  us 
of  heaven  to  come ;  He  said,  '*  In  my 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions  ;  "  '*  I 
go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you''  (John  xiv. 
2)  ;  but  He  also  made  it  very  plain  that 
we  do  not  have  to  wait  till  after  we  die 


Its  Joyful  Experiences      1 29 

for  heaven  to  begin  with  us.     Said  He, 
''  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you" 
(Luke  xvii.  20,  21).     It  is  a  present  heaven 
the  Christian   enjoys,  an  inner  heaven  in 
the  heart.     We  do  not  have  to  wait  until 
we  die  to  taste  the  joys  of  bliss.     It  was 
said  of  a  pious  old  Puritan  that  ''  heaven 
was  in  him  before  he  was  in  heaven." 
A  Scotchman  being  asked  if  he  ever  ex- 
pected to  go  to  heaven,  gave  the  quaint 
reply,  *^  Why,  mon,  I  live  there."     When 
Edward  Payson  was  dying  he  said,  "  If 
I  had  known  twenty-five  years  ago  what  I 
know  now  I  might  have  walked  in  the 
light  of  the    New   Jerusalem   all   these 
years. "     He  had  just  entered  the  Beulah 
Land  experience.     Many  do   not  enter 
because,  Hke  him,  they  think  that  is  only 
to  be  obtained  after  death.     But  it  is  the 
same  heaven  in  both  worlds.     The  only 
difference  is  one  of  degree.      Jesus  no- 
where teaches  that  those  who  put  their 
trust  in   Him  shall  merely  come  into  a 
state  of  eternal  life  by  and  by.     No,  what 
I 


130         The  Christian  Life 

He  says  is  this  :  *'  He  that  belie veth  on 
the  Son  hath  eternal  life"  (John  iii.  36). 
In  a  true  and  deep  sense  all  who  believe 
have  already  entered  upon  the  Eternal 
State.  They  have  stepped  across  the 
frontier  life  into  the  glorious  state  of  be- 
ing in  which  the  changes  of  this  mortal 
existence  cannot  affect  the  permanence 
of  their  life  of  blessedness.  '*  Lay  hold 
on  eternal  life  !  "  It  is  something  for  us 
to  get  hold  of  now.  It  is  a  thing  of  the 
future,  but  it  is  a  thing  of  the  present  too, 
and  even  the  part  of  it  which  is  future 
can  be  so  realized  and  grasped  by  faith 
as  to  be  actually  enjoyed  w^hile  here. 
The  Christian  life  is  a  joyous  experience. 
All  the  way  to  heaven  is  heaven. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Its  Sufferings   and  Trials 

^  TO  BODY    loves   suffering   for   its 

/V/    own    sake.     There    is    nothing 

winsome  about  pain.     It  hurts ; 

and  when  it  is  analyzed  it  bears  so  many 

marks  of  its  origin  in  sin  that  there  is 

nothing  lovely  about  it. 

The  Christian  is  not  immune.  Some 
sorts  of  suffering  he  escapes,  most  cer- 
tainly, but  in  the  world  he  has  tribula- 
tions of  many  kinds. 

Jesus,  certainly,  never  taught  that  the 
Christian  life  is  a  life  free  from  suffering 

131 


132  The  Christian  Life 

and  trial,  or  invited  men  to  follow  Him 
in  order  to  be  exempt  from  troubles. 
He  made  no  such  appeal  to  men's  selfish- 
ness. On  the  contrary,  He  told  them 
plainly  that  sufferings  and  trials  are  sure 
to  come  to  those  who  would  be  His 
disciples,  and  some  of  these  definitely  on 
His  own  account,  as  the  distinct  result  of 
becoming  His  followers. 

The  difference  between  the  Christian 
and  the  unbeliever  is  in  the  use  and  ef- 
fect of  trial  on  the  life.  To  him  who 
has  no  faith  in  Christ  the  world's  bur- 
dens are  not  only  an  unmixed  but  also 
an  unavoidable  evil.  He  cannot  flee  from 
them  or  put  them  on  others  ;  they  have 
no  meaning  of  good  for  him.  The 
Christian,  on  the  other  hand,  finds  all 
his  experiences  eloquent  of  God  and  of 
good.  He  believes  that  to  him  all  things 
work  together  for  good.  He  considers 
every  fact  of  life  as  controlled  by  the 
Father,  who  loves  him,  and  as  containing 
a  message  of  love. 


Its  Sufferings  mid  Trials  133 

Suffering  as  a  Christian 

But,  as  we  have  said,  Jesus  made  no 
promise  to  His  people  of  freedom  from 
trial  and  trouble.  The  apostle  Peter  ex- 
claimed, '"If  any  man  suffer  as  a  Chris- 
tian, let  him  not  be  ashamed''  (I.  Pet.  iv. 
16),  and  Paul  distinctly  reproved  those 
who  compromised  with  conscience 
"  only  that  they  may  not  be  persecuted 
for  the  cross  of  Christ"  (Gal.  vi.  12). 
Some  do  suffer  definitely  as  Christians — 
especially  because  they  are  Christians — 
suffer  persecution  for  the  cross  of  Christ ; 
and  Jesus  did  not  hide  from  any  that 
this  might  be.  Indeed,  He  told  men  dis- 
tinctly that  they  would  be  wise  to  count 
the  cost  of  following  Him  at  all.  Over 
and  over  again  He  said,  ''  If  any  man 
would  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
self, and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me" 
(Mark  viii.  34;  Matt.  x.  38;  xvi.  24; 
Luke  ix.  23  ;  xiv.  27 ;  cf,  Mark  x.  21). 
He  said,  "'  Ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men 


134         T^^^  Christian  Life 

for  my  name's  sake"  (Matt.  x.  22).  He 
said,  **  A  disciple  is  not  above  his  teacher, 
nor  a  servant  above  his  Lord"  (vs.  24). 
He  said,  *'  If  they  have  called  the  master 
of  the  house  Beelzebub,  how  much 
more  them  of  his  household  !  "  (vs.  25). 
He  charged  His  disciples  and  us  all,  *'Be 
not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body, 
but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul"  (vs. 
28).  He  said,  ''  Love  your  enemies" 
(Matt.  V.  44).  Then,  Christians  have 
enemies.  He  said,  ''Pray  for  them 
that  persecute  you"  (vs.  44).  Then 
Christians  are  liable  to  have  those  who 
will  persecute  and  despitefully  use  them. 
He  intimated,  too,  that  men  would  have 
more  quiet  ways,  and  yet  ways  just 
as  effective,  of  bringing  suffering  to 
His  people.  He  said  that  sometimes 
His  disciples  should  be  ostracised, ''  They 
shall  separate  you  from  their  company" 
(Luke  vi.  22);  often  they  should  be 
reproached  and  falsely  accused  (Matt.  v. 
11);  frequently  misunderstood,  and  their 


Its  Sufferings  and  Trials    135 

motives  misinterpreted  (Matt.  v.  10; 
Luke  vi.  22).  He  told  them  not  to 
be  surprised  when  poverty  was  their  lot, 
saying,  "  The  foxes  have  holes,  and  the 
birds  of  the  heaven  have  nests  ;  but  the 
Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  His 
head"  (Luke  ix.  58). 

Then,  too.  He  spoke  of  the  chastise- 
ment which  Christians  must  bear,  and 
the  pruning  in  order  that  they  may 
be  fruitful  (John  xv.  1,  2).  Christians 
also  sometimes  wet  their  beds  with 
tears  because  of  having  left  their  first 
love  (Rev.  ii.  4),  or  from  having  back- 
slidden into  sin,  or  from  their  sorrow 
in  seeing  so  much  sin  in  the  world. 
Then,  too,  there  are  such  common 
ills  to  which  they  are  subject  as  the  loss 
of  property,  the  alienation  of  friends, 
and  the  death  of  those  who  are  near  and 
dear  to  them.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
even  to  try  to  make  a  catalogue  of  the 
sufferings  and  trials  to  which  Christians 
are  liable,  as  taught  or  implied  by  Jesus' 


136         The  Christian  Life 

words.  As  we  have  said  before,  Jesus 
made  no  promise  to  any  Christian  of 
exemption  from  trial  and  trouble.  In- 
deed, some  of  the  greatest  saints  have 
been  the  greatest  sufferers.  Yes,  possibly 
they  have  been  the  greatest  saints  because 
they  were  the  greatest  sufferers. 

Jesus'  Teaching  and  Example 

It  is  just  in  this  direction  that  the 
teachings  of  Jesus,  and  His  example  too, 
are  laden  with  the  strongest  consolation. 
Our  Lord  was  made  perfect  through 
suffering.  He  came  to  His  throne  by  way 
of  His  cross — a  hard  way,  but  a  glorious 
one.  He  tells  us,  too,  that  God  is  dealing 
with  us  as  sons  and  that  life  is  a  school  in 
which  He  is  educating  and  training  and 
preparing  us  for  glory  (cf.  Matt.  xxiv.  13  ; 
Luke  xii.  32  ;  John  xv.  1,  2). 

How  to  Meet  the  Tests 

How,  then,  does  Jesus  wish  us  to 
meet  suffering  and  trial }     In  calm  trust 


Its  Sufferings  and  Trials   137 

in  our  Heavenly  Father's  providence  and 
care.     He   assures   us    that   there   is  no 
chance  in  all  this  universe,  and  no  acci- 
dents—that  God's   government  extends 
to  all  His  creatures  and  all  their  actions. 
He  tells  us  that  not  a  sparrov^  falls  on  the 
ground  v^ithout  the  Father's  notice,  that 
the    very    hairs    of    our    head    are    all 
numbered,  and  that  vv^e   are  of   infinite 
value  in  God's   sight   (Matt.  x.  29-31). 
He    urges    that    w^e    take    no    anxious 
thought  concerning  our  life  or  its  necessi- 
ties,    assuring    us    that    the    Heavenly 
Father,  v^ho  feeds  the  fowls  and  clothes 
the  lilies,  v^ill  certainly  care  for  us.  His 
own    children    (Matt.   vi.    25-32).     He 
tells  us  that  even  if  we  are  persecuted, 
or    misunderstood,    or    in    poverty,    or 
even  mourning  over  sins  into  which  we 
have   fallen,    still  we   may   be    of   good 
cheer  for  it  is  our  Father's  good  pleas- 
ure to  give  us   the   kingdom,   and   that 
He  will   overrule   all   for   our   ultimate 
good. 


138         The  Christian  Life 

Our  Father 
How  much  indeed  is  implied  when 
Jesus  teaches  us  that  God  is  our  Father ! 
'^Your  Father"— ^^  Your  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther"— *' Your  Father  in  heaven"  (Matt. 
V.  16 ;  vi.  26,  32  ;  Luke  xii.  30  ;  Matt.  x. 
29 ;  xviii.  14  ;  Luke  vi.  36,  etc.);  He 
uses  the  words  over  and  over  again.  If 
God  is  our  Father  then  He  loves  us,  and 
what  comfort  there  is  in  the  thought 
of  His  love !  God's  people  may  not 
be  able  to  understand  all  His  dealings 
with  them,  but  this  they  know,  that 
they  are  all  love-prompted  and  love- 
wrought  ;  for  ''  God  is  love."  His  love 
is  strong  like  a  father's.  **  Like  as  a 
father  pitieth  his  children,  so  Jehovah 
pitieth  them  that  fear  Him"  (Ps.  ciii.  13). 
His  love  is  tender,  like  a  mother's  :  ""  As 
one  whom  his  mother  comforteth,  so 
will  I  comfort  you"  (Isa.  Ixvi.  13).  God's 
love  goes  out  to  us  continually  ;  but  just 
as  a  father  or  a  mother  shows  special 
tenderness  and  heed  to  a  sick  or  suffering 


Its  Sufferings  and  Trials  139 

child,  so  does  God  deal  with  us  when  we 
are  in  trouble.  What  blessed  results 
would  come  if  everywhere,  the  world 
over,  we  could  get  people  to  realize  this 
one  supreme,  glad  fact  that  God  is  love  ! 
How  it  would  soften  the  hearts  of  the 
sinning,  cause  all  to  yield  who  are  resist- 
ing, and  how  it  would  bring  cheer  to 
the  lonely,  comfort  to  the  sorrowing, 
strength  to  the  weak,  and  fill  un- 
numbered miUions  with  joy  and  peace  in 
believing!  Besides,  this  love  of  God 
is  absclutely  unvarying,  so  that  we  can 
rely  upon  it  under  all  possible  circum- 
stances. It  is  related  that  a  certain  man 
placed  on  one  of  his  buildings  a  weather- 
vane,  upon  which  were  inscribed  the 
words,  ''  God  is  love."  Some  one  criti- 
cised him,  saying,  ''You  have  placed 
an  immutable  truth  on  a  very  changeful 
thing."  ''No;  it  is  all  right,"  he  replied, 
"  it  means  that  God  is  love  whichever 
way  the  wind  blows."  Yes,  it  is  a  glad 
fact  as  taught  by  Jesus  that  God's  love  is 


140         The  Christian  Life 

a  love  that  can  be  depended  upon,  and 
meets  us  in  every  condition  and  circum- 
stance of  life. 

Infinite  Wisdom 

But  God  is  not  only  loving  ;  He  is  also 
infinitely  wise.  How  much  added  con- 
solation this  thought  gives !  His  deal- 
ings are  not  only  love  prompted,  but  His 
love  is  guided  by  unerring  wisdom. 
Jesus  trusted  this  wisdom  even  in  His 
darkest  hours,  and  by  His  example 
taught  us  likewise  to  trust  (Matt.  xxvi. 
39;  Mark  xiv.  36;  Luke  xxii.  42;  cf. 
Matt.  xi.  26  ;  Luke  x.  21).  We  are  often 
like  little  children,  in  our  ignorance  cry- 
ing for  what  would  harm  us.  God  is 
like  an  all-loving  and  wise  parent  who 
withholds  the  thing  that  would  harm.  A 
sea-captain  allayed  the  fears  of  his  ten- 
year-old  daughter,  on  her  first  voyage 
with  him,  by  assuring  her  that  he  would 
be  at  the  helm  all  night  long.  So  Jesus 
teaches  us  that  our  Heavenly  Father  is 


Its  Sufferings  and   Trials  141 

our  all-skilled  Pilot,  and  will  wisely 
guide.  It  is  not  for  us  who  are  passen- 
gers to  meddle  with  helm  or  chart  or 
compass.  It  is  our  privilege,  as  well  as 
duty,  to  let  our  all-wise  Pilot  alone  with 
His  work,  and  trust.  One  so  loving,  so 
thoughtful  of  us,  so  infinitely  wise  ;  how 
well  we  can  aff^ord  to  trust  Him  ! 

Infinite  Strength 

But  there  is  another  quality  in  God 
which  as  Jesus  makes  Him  known 
crowns  all  these  we  have  mentioned. 
He  is  not  only  loving  and  sympathetic 
and  wise.  One  might  be  all  these  and 
yet  not  be  able  to  deliver.  A  friend 
might  be  loving,  sympathetic,  willing  to 
help  us,  and  wise  enough  to  know  just 
what  ought  to  be  done  in  our  case  of 
need,  and  yet  be  absolutely  unable,  lack- 
ing in  power  to  help  us.  Not  so  with 
God.  Nothing  is  too  hard  for  Him. 
He  is  infinitely  strong.  He  can  put  un- 
derneath His  everlasting  arms  and  bear 


142         The  Christian  Life 

us  up.  He  is  able  to  make  all  grace 
abound  towards  us.  He  is  able  to  fulfill 
His  promise  to  make  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  our  good. 

Sustaining  Grace 

How  wonderfully,  too,  God  does  up- 
hold His  people  in  time  of  trouble ! 
Multitudes  of  Christians,  looking  ahead, 
have  seen  troubles  approaching  that  they 
felt  they  never  would  be  able  to  pass 
through  ;  but,  when  the  time  came,  sus- 
taining grace  was  given.  They  were 
privileged  both  to  rest  their  heads  on 
God's  great  beating  heart  of  love,  and  to 
feel  that  underneath  were  the  Everlasting 
Arms. 

A  minister  on  his  deathbed  was  being 
tended  by  his  daughter.  She  was  very 
solicitous  for  his  comfort,  and  spoke  of 
placing  additional  pillows  under  him. 
He  said,  *'  No,  daughter,  I  have  three 
pillows  under  me  now.  One  is  the  pil- 
low of  God's  love ;  another  is  the  pillow 


Its  Sufferings  and  Trials  143 

of  God's  wisdom  ;  the  other  is  the  pillow 
of  God's  sustaining  strength  and  power." 
These  are  the  pillows  on  which  every 
weary,  troubled,  or  pain-tested  Christian 
may  rest  and  find  truest  comfort  and 
sweetest  relief. 

Cloud  Land 

"  Did  I  ever  mention  to  you,"  wrote 
E.  P.  Hood  to  a  friend,  ''  what  I  thought 
when  I  saw  the  picture  of  a  German 
painter  some  time  ago  ?  I  could  not 
make  out  what  he  meant  by  it.  It  was 
called  Cloud  Land,  and  it  seemed  nothing 
but  cloud  upon  cloud.  As  I  looked  I 
saw  that  every  cloud  turned  into  an  angel 
or  an  angel's  wing ;  and  the  whole  pic- 
ture, which  seemed  at  first  only  a  mass 
of  gloom,  looked  out  upon  me  with  a 
hundred  angels'  eyes.  So  with  all  clouds, 
if  God  comes  nigh  to  us  by  them ;  look 
at  them  and  they  will  turn  into  angels. 
They  are  not  desirable  to  us  in  them- 
selves.     We   foolish   men   would   walk 


144         ^^^  Christian  Life 

always  in  day  brightness — we  do  not  want 
clouds — but  God  knows  their  value,  else 
He  would  never  send  them  to  us/' 

This  is  Jesus'  teaching,  that  to  the 
Christian  every  dispensation  of  Provi- 
dence, however  dark  it  may  seem,  is  a 
token  of  God's  love.  There  is  an  angel, 
a  messenger  of  grace  in  every  cloud. 
God's  *'  Nevertheless  afterward''  is  bigger 
than  all  adverse  circumstances. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Its  Obligation  Of  Service 

TTT^  E  are  saved  to  serve.  Jesus 
^f^  taught  that  v^e  should  live 
"not  to  be  ministered  unto 
but  to  minister  "  (Matt.  xx.  28).  God  has 
so  ordered  that  v^^e  cannot  love  and  serve 
Him  and  not  also  love  and  serve  our  fellow 
men.  Jesus  made  this  very  plain  in  His 
picture  of  the  last  judgment,  when  He 
said  that  He  is  hungry  in  every  hungry 
little  one  of  His,  that  He  is  sick  in  every 
least  one  of  His  who  is  sick  (Matt.  xxv.  31- 
46).  In  serving  His  we  are  serving  Him  ; 
in  neglecting  His  we  are  neglecting  Him. 
We  cannot  fulfill  all  duty  by  loving  Christ 
J  H5 


146         The  Christian  Life 

and  serving  Him,  while  we  ignore  our 
fellow  men.  He  accepts  no  such  service. 
If  we  say  that  we  love  Him,  He  points 
to  the  needy,  the  hungry,  the  sick,  the 
burdened  ones,  the  suffering,  all  about  us, 
and  says  :  ''  Show  your  love  to  these.  I 
do  not  need  service  now  ;  but  these  need 
it.     Serve  them  in  my  name.'' 

The  Perfect  Example 
It  is  Christlike,  Godlike  to  serve.  The 
spirit  of  service  is  indeed  the  Christly 
spirit.  Jesus  said,  ''  I  am  in  the  midst  of 
you  as  he  that  serveth"  (Luke  xxii.  27). 
He  said,  ''  My  Father  worketh  even 
until  now,  and  I  work''  (John  v.  17).  In- 
deed, what  an  example  His  whole  life 
was  of  this  spirit  of  service.  He  took 
upon  Him  ''  the  form  of  a  servant."  He 
came  ''  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister. "  He  healed  the  sick,  cleansed 
the  lepers,  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind, 
cheered  the  disconsolate,  preached  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor,  and,  at  the  last,  on  the 


Its  Obligation  Of  Service  147 

cruel  cross,  gave  up  His  life  as  an  un- 
selfish surrender  for  the  salvation  of 
others. 

The  Messages  of  Christ 
Then,  too,  many  of  His  messages, 
recorded  in  the  Gospels,  convey  the 
same  obligation  as  did  His  life  and  ex- 
ample. Indeed,  His  teachings  concern- 
ing the  obligation  of  service  are  so 
numerous,  so  constant  that  they  might 
be  almost  considered  the  bulk  and  the 
burden  of  His  messages  to  men.  A  few 
examples  must  suffice,  such  as  the 
parable  of  the  pounds  (Luke  xix.  12-26), 
the  parable  of  the  talents  (Matt.  xxv.  14- 
30),  the  parable  of  the  salt  (Matt.  v.  13), 
of  the  light  (vs.  14-16),  of  the  leaven 
(Matt.  xiii.  33).  It  is  the  obligation  of 
service  these  all  teach.  The  same  obli- 
gation He  taught  over  and  over  again  in 
plain  words.  He  commended  the  giving 
of  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name 
of  a  disciple  (Matt.  x.  42).     He  said  that 


148         The  Christian  Life 

greatness  in  His  kingdom  is  accounted 
to  those  who  both  do  and  teach  His 
commandments  (Matt.  v.  19).  He  said 
that  among  the  heathen  those  were 
accounted  great  who  exercised  lordship 
over  others,  but  added,  *'  Not  so  shall 
it  be  among  you  :  but  whosoever  would 
become  great  among  you  shall  be  your 
minister ;  and  whosoever  would  be  first 
among  you  shall  be  your  servant"  (Matt. 
XX.  26,  27).  That  is,  greatness  comes  by 
serviceableness.  Those  are  great  in 
Christ's  kingdom  who  are  great  servants 
{cf.  Mark  x.  42-44;  Matt,  xxiii.  11). 
He  commended  the  corn  of  wheat 
which  was  sown,  not  saved,  dying  for 
the  sake  of  fruit,  and  likewise  He 
commended  the  man  who  should  be 
willing  to  cast  his  life  into  the  soil  of 
service  in  order  that  it  might  bring  forth 
fruit  unto  life  eternal.  He  said  that 
from  the  vineyard  fruit  was  expected 
(Luke  xiii.  6-9),  and  pronounced  a  curse 
on    uselessness    when    He    caused    the 


Its  Obligation  Of  Service  149 

barren  fig  tree  to  wither  away  (Mark  xi. 
12-14). 

Christ's  Commands 

Not  only  did  He  enforce  the  obliga- 
tion of  service  by  His  example  of  life  given 
for  others,  and  by  His  teachings,  direct 
and  indirect,  but  He  definitely  required 
its  recognition  by  repeated  commands. 
When  a  man  asked  Him  how  far  the 
duty  of  a  neighbor  extended  He  told  the 
parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan.  He 
agreed  that  the  man  who  rendered  help 
was  the  real  neighbor,  and  then  ended 
the  parable  with  a  command:  **Go,  and 
do  thou  likewise"  (Luke  x.  30-37).  He 
said  to  His  disciples  when  He  appeared 
to  them  after  the  resurrection,  **  As  the 
Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I 
you"  (John  xx.  21).  To  the  restored 
Peter  He  said,  ''Feed  my  lambs;" 
"'  Feed  my  sheep"  (John  xxi.  15-17). 
He  told  the  lawyer  who  asked  which 
is  the  great   commandment,   that  there 


150         The  Christian  Life 

are  two  great  commandments,  the  first 
being  to  love  God  with  all  the  heart  and 
soul  and  mind,  and  the  second,  like  unto 
it,  *'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself"  (Matt.  xxii.  35-40).  To  several 
of  the  disciples  in  the  act  of  calling  them 
He  told  them  what  their  work  was  to 
be:  *'Come  ye  after  me,  and  I  will 
make  you  fishers  of  men"  (Matt.  iv.  18, 
19  ;  cf.  Mark  i.  16,  17).  In  the  Golden 
Rule  He  laid  down  a  command  that 
we  should  feel  the  obligation  to  serve 
others  as  deeply  as  would  be  the  appeal 
of  our  own  need  were  we  in  position 
to  require  service  (Matt.  vii.  12  ;  Luke 
vi.  31).  He  said  to  His  disciples,  "'The 
harvest  indeed  is  plenteous,  but  the 
laborers  are  few :  pray  ye  therefore  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He  send  forth 
laborers  into  His  harvest"  (Luke  x.  2). 
But  this  command  implied  another  that 
they  were  not  only  to  pray,  but  also 
to  labor  in  the  great  world  harvest  field. 
After  His  conversation  with  the  Samari- 


Its  Obligafio7i  Of  Service  151 

tan  woman,  at  Jacob's  Well,  He  said 
to  the  disciples,  **Say  not  ye.  There 
are  yet  four  months,  and  then  cometh 
the  harvest?  Behold,  I  say  unto  you, 
Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look  on  the  fields, 
that  they  are  white  already  unto  harvest. 
He  that  reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and 
gathereth  fruit  unto  life  eternal"  (John 
iv.  35,  36). 

Witness-Bearing 
Then,  too,  there  are  all  those  com- 
mands, direct  and  implied,  that  make 
known  to  His  people  that  they  are  to  be 
witnesses  for  Him.  Jesus  said,  **  I  am 
the  light  of  the  world,  "  and  then  added, 
*' Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world"  (Matt. 
V.  14).  He  calls  us  His  witnesses.  He 
tells  us  we  are  to  confess  Him  before 
men  (Matt.  x.  32,  33),  that  we  are  to  let 
our  light  shine  before  men,  that  we  are 
to  commend  Him  and  His  religion  to 
men.  He  tells  us  we  are  to  do  this  ac- 
tively as  well  as  by  the  silent  influence  of 


152         The  Christian  Life 

our  lives  :  ''  And  ye  shall  receive  power, 
when  the  Holy  Spirit  is  come  upon  you  : 
and  ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in 
Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judjsa  and  Samaria, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  '* 
(Acts  i.  8).  Nothing  could  be  plainer 
than  His  command  to  the  apostles,  and 
through  them  to  us,  until  the  work  is 
done,  *'  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole  creation  '' 
(Mark  xvi.  15);  **  Go  ye  therefore,  and 
make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptiz- 
ing them  into  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit : 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  what- 
soever I  commanded  you''  (Matt,  xxviii. 
19,  20). 

Being  Good 

This  obligation  to  service,  so  definitely 
and  constantly  urged  by  Jesus,  is  to  be 
met  in  two  ways,  by  our  being  and  doing. 
We  are  to  be  good  and  do  good.  A 
good  life  is  an  argument  for  Christianity 


Its  Obligation  Of  Service  153 

many  years  long,  never  misunderstood, 
and  absolutely  unanswerable.  If  ever 
there  w^as  a  day  when  it  was  important 
for  every  follower  of  Jesus  to  stand  fast 
and  be  true  to  his  profession,  we  believe 
it  is  the  present  day.  There  is  no 
answer  to  infidelity  like  the  life  of  Christ 
displayed  by  the  living,  loving  Christian. 
*^  Ye  are  my  witnesses  "  was  never  truer 
than  it  is  to-day.  Nothing  puts  the  mad- 
ness of  the  infidel  and  the  folly  of  the  un- 
believing more  to  shame  and  silence 
than  the  humble,  quiet,  consistent  walk 
of  some  thorough-going,  heavenly- 
minded,  divinely-taught  disciple.  It  is 
character  that  tells.  There  is  wonderful 
power  in  a  consistent  life.  Multitudes  of 
people  to-day  are  called  upon  to  thank 
God  for  the  force  of  a  living  Bible. 
There  have  been  many  who  would  not 
read  God's  printed  Word,  but  to  whom 
He  sent  a  living  Bible  in  the  example  of 
some  devoted  Christian  they  could  not 
help  reading. 


154         The  Christian  Life 

Living  Epistles 

The  atheist  who  spent  a  few  days  with 
the  saintly  Fenelon  said  :  ''  If  I  stay  here 
much  longer  I  shall  become  a  Christian 
in  spite  of  myself."  Fenelon  had  used 
no  word  of  controversy  or  solicitation. 
It  was  but  the  quiet,  convincing  argu- 
ment of  a  holy  life, — a  consistent  walk 
and  conversation. 

""  I  tried  to  be  a  skeptic  when  I  was  a 
young  man,"  said  Cecil,  **  but  my 
mother's  life  was  too  much  for  me." 

A  young  minister  when  about  to  be  or- 
dained to  the  work  of  the  Gospel,  stated 
publicly  that  at  one  period  of  his  life  he 
was  almost  an  infidel.  ''  But,"  said  he, 
*'  there  was  one  argument  in  favor  of 
Christianity  I  could  never  refute — the 
consistent  conduct  of  my  father. " 

'*  No,  I  don't  know  Jesus,"  responded 
a  young  city  Arab  to  the  abrupt  question 
of  a  zealous,  if  not  over-tactful  street 
missionary.  Then,  with  a  sudden  illu- 
mination of  memory,  he  added,  *'But  I 


Its  Obligation  Of  Service  155 

know  a  friend  of  His,  and  I  like  her." 
Some  good  woman  had  done  more  than 
she  knew,  for  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in 
the  Ufe  of  His  friends  is  the  Gospel  that 
shall  reach  all  nations. 

Some  years  ago  a  Japanese  came  to 
Dr.  Leighton  Parks,  in  Boston,  saying, 
''  Sir,  can  you  tell  me  where  to  find  the 
beautiful  life  ? ''  Dr.  Parks  learned  that 
he  had  lived  in  a  boarding-house  in 
San  Francisco  with  a  man  whose  life  as 
a  Christian  had  been  so  unselfish  and 
sunny  and  helpful  that  this  Japanese  had 
named  it  ''the  beautiful  life,"  and  felt  a 
yearning  to  possess  it. 

Force  of  Silent  Preaching 

Let  us  know  that  a  consistent  life  is  a 
power  anywhere.  The  reUgion  that 
keeps  the  speech  pure  and  honest,  the 
temper  sweet  and  kindly,  the  actions  con- 
siderate and  unselfish — such  a  walk  and 
conversation  is  a  constant  telling  of  the 


156         The  Christian  Life 

Gospel  story,  of  the  real  good  news  to 
men. 

**My  brethren,"  said  an  old  African 
preacher,  ''  a  good  example  is  the  tallest 
kind  of  preaching/'     And  he  was  right. 

Doing  Good 

But  the  disciple  of  Jesus  is  not  only  to 
be  good ;  he  is  also  definitely  to  aim  at 
doing  good.  The  obligation  of  service 
laid  upon  him  by  Jesus  requires  him  to 
be  active  and  earnest  and  zealous.  Each 
disciple  of  Christ  is  to  *'  do  all  the  good 
he  can,  to  all  the  people  he  can,  in  all  the 
ways  he  can,  as  long  as  ever  he  can.''  It 
is  the  duty  of  every  Christian  to  make 
his  life  tell  just  as  largely  and  just  as  widely 
as  ever  he  can  for  the  advancement  of  the 
kingdom  of  his  Master.  We  are  to  be 
moved  to  this  by  the  fact  that  the  com- 
mand of  Christ  to  forward  His  cause  is 
binding  upon  every  disciple  (Mark  xvi. 
15  ;  Acts  i.  8) ;  by  the  fact  that   as  His 


Its  Obligation  Of  Service  157 

religion  is  true  we  are  bound  to  propagate 
it ;  by  the  fact  of  the  need  of  every  life 
for  Jesus  Christ ;  by  the  fact  that  Christ 
comes  to  souls  through  other  souls ;  by 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  work  whose  re- 
turns are  indestructible  ;  and  by  the  fact 
that,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  it  is  the  only 
way  the  world  can  hear  of  Christ  at  all. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Its  Rewards 

JESUS  was  willing  to  have  us  think 
of  the  rewards  of  the  Christian 
life  or  He  never  would  have  enu- 
merated so  many  or  mentioned  them  so 
frequently.  Some  say  that  the  expec- 
tation of  reward  is  a  low  motive.  Jesus 
presented  other  motives,  such  as  the 
duty  of  man,  the  glory  of  God,  gratitude 
for  blessings,  and  the  welfare  of  others ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  He  either  appealed 
to  our  desire  for  reward,  or  announced 
the  blessed  results  of  right  faith  and 
conduct,  constantly. 

158 


Its  Rewards  159 

Reward  of  Following 

He  spoke  frequently  of  the  reward  of 
following  Him.  To  His  disciples  on 
more  than  one  occasion  He  said,  ''  Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  there  is  no  man  that  hath 
left  house,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or 
mother,  or  father,  or  children,  or  lands, 
for  my  sake,  and  for  the  gospel's  sake, 
but  he  shall  receive  a  hundredfold  now 
in  this  time,  .  .  .  and  in  the  world  to 
come  eternal  life"  (Mark  x.  29,  30  ;  Matt, 
xix.  29).  To  the  rich  young  man  who, 
misunderstanding  the  nature  of  true  right- 
eousness, asked,  ''What  lack  I  yet?" 
Jesus  made  reply  :  ''  If  thou  wouldst  be 
perfect,  go,  sell  that  which  thou  hast,  and 
give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have 
treasure  in  heaven :  and  come,  follow 
me"  (Matt.  xix.  20,  21;  cf.  Luke  xviii.  29, 
30).  He  spoke  of  His  very  attitude 
toward  those  who  are  His  own  as  in  some 
measure  a  reward  for  their  enlistment 
with  Him.     He  says,  ''  No  longer  do  I 


i6o         The  Christian  Life 

call  you  servants ;  .  .  .  but  I  have 
called  you  friends"  (John  xv.  15).  He 
not  only  makes  His  people  differ  thus 
from  common  men,  but  He  loves  them 
in  a  peculiar  way.  "  He  that  loveth  me 
shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will 
love  him  and  will  manifest  myself  unto 
him'' (John  xiv.  21-23). 

Reward  of  Serving 
Jesus  spoke  frequently  also  of  the 
reward  of  serving  Him.  He  said  that 
the  giving  of  a  cup  ''  of  cold  water  only" 
in  the  name  of  a  disciple  should  ''  in  no 
wise  lose  its  reward"  (Matt.  x.  42). 
When  He  stood  by  Jacob's  Well  and 
told  His  disciples  of  the  great  harvest 
of  human  souls  to  be  gathered,  He 
added:  ''He  that  reapeth  receiveth 
wages,  and  gathereth  fruit  unto  life 
eternal"  (John  iv.  36).  In  His  great 
parable  of  the  last  judgment.  He  presents 
as  one  of  the  most  blessed  experiences  of 
His  people  the  surprises  that  await  them 


Its  Rewards  i6i 

when  they  shall  find  the  results  and 
rewards  of  what  would  seem  to  be 
some  of  their  most  trivial  acts  of  kind- 
ness— ''  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  hungry, 
and  fed  thee  ?  or  athirst,  and  gave  thee 
drink  ?  And  when  saw  we  thee  a 
stranger  and  took  thee  in  ?  or  naked  and 
clothed  thee  ?  And  when  saw  we  thee 
sick,  or  in  prison,  and  came  unto  thee? 
And  the  King  shall  answer  and  say 
unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Inas- 
much as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  these 
my  brethren,  even  these  least,  ye  did 
it  unto  me"  (Matt.  xxv.  37-40).  He 
commended  the  widow  who  placed 
her  two  mites  in  the  Lord's  treasury 
(Mark  xii.  42-44),  and  the  woman  who 
broke  the  alabaster  cruse  of  ointment 
as  an  expression  of  love  to  Him  (Matt. 
xxvi.  6-13). 

Reward  of  Fidelity 
He  spoke    over   and   over   again  also 
of   the  rewards  or  results  of   fidelity  to 


1 62         The  Christian  Life 

Him  and  in  His  service.  When  He  tells 
of  the  hardships  and  persecutions  many 
of  His  people  are  to  bear  He  pronounces 
a  blessing  for  every  one,  and  adds,  ''  But 
he  that  endureth  to  the  end  the  same 
shall  be  saved"  (Matt.  xxiv.  4-13). 

Some  of  the  Rewards 
It  is  inspiring  to  notice  also  what 
are  some  of  the  rewards  of  the  Christian 
as  enumerated  by  Jesus.  One  of  these 
is  life,  eternal  life.  Jesus  said  to  Martha, 
^'  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the  life  :  he 
that  believeth  on  me,  though  he  die,  yet 
shall  he  live ;  and  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die"  (John 
xi.  25,  26).  He  said  to  His  disciples, 
"  Nevertheless  in  this  rejoice  not,  that 
the  spirits  are  subject  unto  you ;  but 
rejoice  that  your  names  are  written  in 
heaven"  (Luke  x.  20).  He  said  He 
should  '*  gather  together  His  elect  from 
the  four  winds,  from  the  uttermost  part 
of   the  earth   to  the   uttermost   part  of 


Its  Rewards  163 

heaven"  (Mark  xiii.  27),  and  announced 
eternal  life  for  His  people,  saying  that 
God  had  said  :  "  I  am  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God 
of  Jacob,"  adding,  *'  God  is  not  the  God 
of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living"  (Matt.  xxii. 
32). 

Heaven  Itself 

But  He  still  more  definitely  speaks  of 
the  reward  of  the  Christian  Hfe  as 
heaven  itself.  He  tells  us  plainly  that 
there  is  such  a  place,  that  heaven  is 
not  a  mere  fancy  or  speculation.  He 
says :  ''  In  my  Father's  house  are  many 
mansions;  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would 
have  told  you"  (John  xiv.  2).  In  other 
words,  He  tells  us  that  when  He  came 
here  among  men  He  found  them 
cherishing  a  hope  of  a  heavenly  home, 
that  He  Himself  knew  whether  such 
a  home  existed  or  not,  also  that  He 
was  truth  and  would  not  deal  with  men 
falsely,  and  adds,  '*In  my  Father's  house 


164         The  Christian  Life 

are  many  mansions  ;  if  it  were  not  so,  I 
would  have  told  you "  (John  xiv.  2). 
What  He  really  says  is  that  had  we  been 
mistaken  in  regard  to  our  thoughts 
and  hopes  of  heaven  He  would  have 
undeceived  us  when  He  was  here  in  the 
world.  But  our  hopes  are  well  founded. 
'*In  my  Father's  house  are  many  man- 
sions." "'  If  it  were  not  so  I  would  have 
told  you."  ^'  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for 
you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for 
you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive 
you  unto  myself ;  that  where  I  am,  there 
ye  may  be  also "  (vs.  3).  He  told  the 
dying  thief  of  the  reality  of  the  Paradise 
of  the  saved,  and  that  he  should  immedi- 
ately be  in  that  home  in  His  own 
presence  (Luke  xxiii.  43). 

The  Heavenly  Home  Gathering 

He  speaks  especially  of  the  heavenly 

home     gathering,     when     '*many    shall 

come    from    the    east    and    the     west, 

and     shall    sit     down     with     Abraham, 


Its  Rewards  165 

and  Isaac,  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven"  (Matt.  viii.  11).  A  number 
of  inferences  very  precious  to  the  heart 
of  the  believer  may  be  drawn  from  these 
words  of  Jesus.  One  is  that  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  shall  be  vastly  populated. 
*' Many  shall  come,"  and  from  the  four 
quarters  of  the  earth,  to  swell  the  popu- 
lation of  heaven.  Another  suggestion 
is  in  regard  to  the  agreeable  association 
the  inhabitants  shall  find  in  that  king- 
dom. With  heavenly  familiarity  and 
harmony,  because  redeemed  by  the  same 
precious  blood,  people  without  distinc- 
tion of  nation  or  clime  or  earthly  circum- 
stances will  '"sit  down ''  together  in  sweet 
communion  there — at  the  supper  table  of 
the  Lamb.  Let  us  not  fail  to  notice,  too, 
that  this  association  shall  be  in  the  blessed- 
ness of  mutual  recognition.  **  They  shall 
sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
Jacob."  These  patriarchs  will  be  known. 
The  prophets  will  be  known.  The 
apostles  and  martyrs  will  be  known.     We 


1 66         The  Christian  Life 

shall  know  each  other  there.  Would 
it  not  be  a  strange  thing,  indeed,  were 
God  to  invite  to  His  banqueting  table, 
for  the  purpose  of  enjoyment,  a  company 
all  strangers,  not  knowing  one  another 
and  incapable  of  becoming  acquainted? 
No,  the  picture  Jesus  gives  us  of  heaven 
is  one  of  most  blessed  and  intimate  asso- 
ciations between  Himself  and  His 
redeemed,  and  mutually  between  all  who 
enter  that  home. 

Heavenly  Enjoyment 

A  third  suggestion  from  Jesus'  words 
is  in  regard  to  the  repose  and  blessed 
enjoyment  all  who  enter  that  kingdom 
shall  find.  **  They  shall  sit  down." 
This  is  a  peculiar  phrase  as  applied  to 
beatific  bliss.  It  refers  to  a  feast, 
especially  to  an  Eastern  feast,  where 
the  guests  sat,  or  rather  reclined.  The 
position  was  always  recumbent,  one  of 
great  restf  ulness  and  ease.  They  shall ''  sit 
down  ''  to  rest.    They  shall "'  sit  down  "  to 


Its  Rewards  167 

converse.  It  is  not  alone  rest  Jesus'  words 
suggest,  but  rest  in  the  midst  of  happy 
associations.  This  heavenly  feast  implies 
the  sweetest  communion  with  our 
heavenly  Father,  with  Christ,  our  Saviour, 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  our  Comforter  and 
Guide,  with  the  saints  and  angels,  and 
with  our  loved  ones  in  glory.  They  shall 
''sit  down"  to  listen.  How  certainly 
God  will  reveal  Himself  and  the  myster- 
ies of  His  providential  dealings  with  us 
— His  plans,  His  wisdom.  His  great  love 
— speaking  to  all  at  His  great  banquet- 
ing table  in  parental  affection  and  famil- 
iarity. 

Let  us  so  trust  in  Christ  and  live  here 
below  that  we  may  have  right,  by  and 
by,  to  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  all  the  redeemed  at 
the  final  home-gathering  in  the  kingdom 
of  God. 


CHAPTER  X 

Summary 

rHE  study  we  have  made  has  been 
definitely  of  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  concerning  the  Christian 
Life.  We  beHeve  in  the  unity  of  the 
New  Testament.  We  do  not  separate 
between  a  ** theology  of  Jesus"  and  a 
**  theology  of  Paul,"  or  believe  that  there 
is  any  contradiction  between  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Gospels  and  the  teachings  of 
the  Epistles.  Jesus  personally  or  through 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  teacher 
of  all  the  New  Testament  writers,  and 
their  message  is  one,  though,  as  naturally 
would  be  expected,  manifesting  a  prog- 
i68 


Summary  169 

ress  of  doctrine  as  the  truths  Jesus  ut- 
tered were  apprehended  and  applied  in 
the  newly  developing  Church.  On  all 
the  features  and  characteristics  of  the 
Christian  life  we  have  considered  in  the 
foregoing  chapters  many  additional  refer- 
ences to  or  statements  of  the  same  truths 
could  be  found  in  other  books  of  the  New 
Testament.  But  it  certainly  is  both  an 
interesting  and  an  exceedingly  profitable 
thing  for  any  one  to  have  before  him  just 
what  Jesus  said  on  the  various  features  of 
that  life. 

To  sum  up  in  brief  our  findings  as  to 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  concerning  the 
Christian  life  we  find,  in  the  first  place, 
that  He  presented  it  as  the  thing  to  all 
men  of  the  utmost,  the  supreme  impor- 
tance. It  is  the  first  thing,  and  it  should 
be  placed  first  in  our  estimation  of  values^ 
first  in  time  of  attention,  and  first  in  our 
consideration  of  importance.  This  im- 
portance is  attested  by  the  fact  that  men 
are  lost.     It  is  attested  also  by  the  great. 


lyo        The  Christian  Life 

glad  fact  that  salvation  is  possible.  There 
is  no  word  that  tells  us  of  Jesus'  coming  to 
the  world,  of  His  incarnation,  of  His  life 
among  men,  of  His  solicitude  for  their 
welfare,  of  His  sufferings  and  death  on 
the  cross,  which  does  not  at  the  same 
time  tell  us  of  the  tremendous  importance 
of  the  Christian  life.  Christ  put  our  sal- 
vation first  when  He  left  His  home  in 
heaven  ''  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost/'  He  told  us  to  seek  it  first 
through  the  way  He  has  provided.  To 
fail  of  doing  this  is  to  undervalue  His 
work  and  show  the  deepest  possible  dis- 
respect and  disloyalty ;  while  to  accept 
what  He  has  done  and  try  to  do  what 
He  says  is  the  sure  way  to  both  happiness 
and  usefulness  here  and  blessedness  here- 
after. 

Secondly,  we  find  Jesus  telling  how 
the  Christian  life  begins.  It  is  through 
faith  in  Him  and  trusting  in  His  atoning 
death  on  the  cross.  Man  must ''  believe  " 
and   ''come"    and    ''trust,"    but    God 


Summary  171 

through  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  eternal  life, 
quickens  the  dead,  is  author  of  the  new 
birth.  Jesus  says  this  is  mysterious,  can- 
not be  explained,  but  can  be  illustrated. 
A  stricken  Israelite,  in  obedience  to  God's 
command,  looked  upon  a  brazen  serpent, 
and  lo  !  the  doomed  and  dying  man  went 
free  and  well.  What  cured  him  ?  Un- 
less we  say  God,  we  know  not  what  to 
say.  But  how  ?  Ah  !  there  Jesus  speaks 
to  our  pride  and  says,  ''  I  am  talking 
about  things  I  know,  but  they  belong  to 
the  spiritual  realm,  and  you  must  trust 
what  I  say." 

Thirdly,  we  learn  that  Jesus  reveals  to 
us  some  of  the  evidences  by  which  we 
can  tell  that  the  new  life  is  begun. 
Every  truly  penitent  believer  is  accepted 
of  God,  but  not  every  one  is  conscious 
of  the  fact.  The  believer  knows  Jesus, 
trusts  Jesus,  loves  Jesus,  loves  to  think 
about  Him,  hear  about  Him,  and  tries  to 
please  Him.  The  true  Christian  has 
some   consciousness    of    an   affectionate 


172         The  Christian  Life 

choice  of  Jesus  as  his  Saviour  and  Lord, 
or  soon  arrives  at  such  a  stage. 

Fourthly,  it  must  be  recognized  that 
the  Christian  life  has  conflicts.  It  vs^as 
never  the  plan  of  Jesus  to  hide  from  His 
followers  the  temptations  and  tests 
and  struggles  they  would  surely  have  to 
meet.  Evil  is  in  the  world.  Satan  is  no 
myth,  but  an  actual  and  active  foe.  He 
is  cunning,  powerful  and  treacherous, 
hating  God  and  hating  all  the  good. 
Jesus  warned  against  him  and  his  tactics, 
revealed  the  conditions  of  victory,  and 
also  told  how  the  struggle  well  main- 
tained would  work  out  for  good  to  all 
His  followers. 

Fifthly,  there  is  the  problem  of  the 
maintenance  of  the  Christian  life.  It 
does  not  begin  full  grown,  strong  and 
perfect.  It  must  be  nourished  and 
strengthened  by  the  use  of  means.  Jesus 
laid  emphasis  on  the  importance  of  main- 
taining fellowship  with  Him  and  of  the 
faithful  use  of  such  means  of  grace  as  the 


Summary  173 

Word,  sacraments,  and  prayer,  and  of  the 
exercise  of  good  works. 

Sixthly,  it  is  made  plain  by  Jesus  that 
He  calls  His  followers  not  to  sadness  but 
to  joy  ;  not  from  larger  things  to  smaller, 
not  from  liberty  to  bondage,  but  the 
opposite.  Life,  health,  peace,  joy,  the 
highest  blessedness  here,  as  well  as  here- 
after, is  the  heritage  of  those  who  enlist 
with  Him. 

Seventhly,  it  was  found  that  Jesus'  call 
for  followers  was  not  an  appeal  to  their 
natural  selfishness.  His  people  are  not 
made  exempt  from  suiferings  and  trials. 
Some  of  them  suffer  as  Christians, — be- 
cause they  are  Christians.  They  suffer 
from  persecution  sometimes,  from  pov- 
erty sometimes,  from  witnessing  so  much 
evil  in  the  world,  from  the  loss  of  kin- 
dred and  those  dear  to  them.  But  in  the 
midst  of  their  suffering  they  have  the  joy 
of  knowing  that  God  is  their  heavenly 
Father,  that  Christ  is  their  Friend,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  their  Sanctifier,  and 


174         The  Christian  Life 

they  trust  to  the  infinite  love  and  wisdom 
and  power  of  the  Triune  God  who  con- 
trols all  things  for  their  good. 

Eighthly,  it  was  seen  that  Christians 
are  called  into  Jesus*  kingdom  not  only 
to  be  saved  but  to  serve.  ''  His  servants 
shall  serve  Him  '*  not  only  in  heaven  ;  it 
is  their  business  to  serve  Him  here  and 
now.  They  are  to  make  His  interests 
their  interests.  His  cause  their  cause.  His 
kingdom  their  kingdom,  and  do  all  in 
their  power  to  help  forward  the  day 
when  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  His 
soul  and  be  satisfied. 

Ninthly,  we  learned  that  Jesus  makes 
it  plain  that  the  Christian  life  is  a  life  that 
is  to  attain  eternal  rewards.  Over  and 
over  again  Jesus  presented  this  motive, 
telling  of  the  rewards  of  following  Him, 
the  rewards  of  service  for  Him,  the  re- 
wards of  fidelity  to  Him,  and  presented 
the  attractions  of  the  heavenly  home. 

God  has  a  thousand  ways  in  which  to 
pay  a  loving  heart.     Where  Jesus  is,  is 


Summary  1 75 

heaven,  and  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
Jesus  will  make  complete  all  the  rewards 
of  heaven.  Saved  and  cleansed  by  His 
blood,  may  the  readers  of  this  book,  and 
the  writer  of  it,  too,  be  among  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  shall  be  so  unspeakably 
happy  as  to  gather  around  the  Throne  of 
Jesus  ! 

"  The  light  of  heaven  is  the  face  of  Jesus. 
The  joy  of  heaven  is  the  presence  of  Jesus. 
The  melody  of  heaven  is  the  name  of  Jesus. 
The  harmony  of  heaven  is  the  praise  of  Jesus. 
The  theme  of  heaven  is  the  work  of  Jesus. 
The  employment  of  heaven  is  the  service  of  Jesus, 
The  duration  of  heaven  is  the  eternity  of  Jesus. 
The  fulness  of  heaven  is  Jesus  Himself." 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS 

A 
Abide  in  Jesus'  love,  93. 
Abide  in  the  vine,  91. 
Absorbed  by  pleasure,  10. 
Alpine  traveller.  The,  106. 
An  artist  converted,  36. 
An  ill-adjusted  camera,  7. 
An  object  of  faith,  26. 
Arab  and  camel,  84. 
Assurance,  Best  ground  of,  45. 
Assurance  coming  to  consciousness,  56. 
Avoidance  of  temptation  allowed,  8 1. 

B 

Beautiful  life.  The,  155. 
Beginning  of  the  Christian  life,  22. 
Being  good,  152. 
Bible  nourishment,  97. 
Busy  world.  A,  9. 

L  177 


178  Index  of  Subjects 

c 

Call  to  proper  emphasis,  7. 

Call  to  service,  174. 

Capacity  for  life  enlarged,  109. 

Chastisement  of  Christians,  135. 

Christ  characterizes  Satan,  65. 

Christ  the  Life,  30. 

Christ  the  Way,  28. 

Christ's  example  of  service,  146. 

Christian  assurance,  39. 

Christian  life,  its  joyful  experiences,  1 07. 

Christianity  the  religion  of  the  joyful,  1 1 5. 

Christians  have  enemies,  134. 

Church  a  spiritual  home.  The,  102. 

Church  as  a  means  of  grace.  The,  10 1. 

Church  attendance,  Jesus'  example,  I02. 

Cloud  Land,  143. 

Compromises  are  dangerous,  84. 

Conditions  of  victory,  "JJ, 

Confessing  Christ,  55. 

Conflicts  of  the  Christian  life,  60,  1 72. 

Conflict  within,  1 2 1. 

Conscious  acceptance  desirable,  39. 

Consistent  conduct  is  evidence  for  Christ,  154. 

Conversion,  A  recent,  54. 

Conversion,  A  young  girl's  quiet,  34. 


Index  of  Subjects  1 79 

Count  the  cost  of  following  Christ,  62,  133. 
Craftiness  of  Satan,  72. 
Cup,  A  full,  112. 

D 

Danger  in  delay,  13. 

Disheartened  Christian  helped.  A,  57. 

Dispossession  by  preoccupation,  80. 

Divine  Voice,  The,  lOO. 

Doing  good,  156. 

E 

Effect  of  trial  on  Christians,  132. 
Enjoyments  of  heaven,  166. 
Enlarged  capacity  for  blessedness,  I  lO. 
Enrichment  of  life,  109. 
Enthrone  Christ,  17. 
Evidences  of  discipleship,  5  I. 
Evidences  of  the  new  life,  40,  42,  171. 
Exercise  cure,  The,  105. 

F 
Faith  producing  love,  125. 
False  religions  joyless,  112. 
Farmer  getting  rid  of  rattlesnakes,  69. 
Father  love,  138. 
Father's  care.  The,  122. 


1 8  o  Index  of  Subjects 

Feelings  fluctuate,  41. 

First  battles,  68. 

First  commandment.  The,  19. 

First  things  by  and  by,  12. 

First  things  first,  8,  169. 

Force  of  silent  preaching,  155. 

Friend  with  me.  A,  78. 


Glorified  joy,  124. 

God  acts  through  means,  90. 

God  is  love,  138. 

God's  infinite  power,  141. 

God's  infinite  wisdom,  140. 

Godliness  is  profitable,  16. 

God's  love-letter  to  us,  lOO. 

Great  commission.  The,  152. 

Greatness  by  serviceableness,  148. 

H 

Hearts  must  be  changed,  38. 
Heaven  as  a  reward,  163. 
Heaven  on  earth,  59. 
Heaven  vastly  populated,  165. 
Heaven  within  the  soul,  129. 
Heavenly  home  gathering,  The,  164. 


Index  of  Stibjects  i8i 

Heavenly  recognition,  165. 
Hood,  E.  P.,  143. 
Hope  we  have  a  hope,  The,  41. 
Holy  Spirit  regenerates,  25. 
Holy  Spirit  reveals  Christ,  43. 
Holy  Spirit  speaks  of  Christ,  44. 
Holy  Spirit  the  agent  of  the  new  birth,  25. 
Holy  Spirit  witnesses  we  are  Christ's,  47. 
How  the  Christian  life  begins,  30,  33,  I/O- 
How  to  meet  tests,  1 36. 
I 

Indian  legend,  74. 
Intimacy  with  Jesus,  126. 
Indwelling  Christ,  The,  1 1 8. 

J 

Jacob's  Well,  151. 

Jesus  commands  service,  149. 

Jesus  had  the  perfect  vision,  5. 

Jesus  teaches  to  pray,  95. 

Jesus  the  fullness  of  heaven,  175. 

Jesus'  own  words,  their  profitableness,  169. 

Jesus'  redeeming  mission,  6. 

Join  the  Church,  102. 

Joy  unspeakable,  123. 

Joys  of  the  Christian  Ufe,  173. 


1 82  Index  of  Subjects 

K 

King  and  dwarf,  71. 

King  of  our  lives,  The,  17. 

Knowing  Jesus,  42. 

L 

Last  things  first,  8. 

Liberty  of  Christians,  The,  113. 

Life  is  a  school,  136. 

Lind,  Jenny,  in  the  royal  palace,  17. 

Little  sins,  69. 

Living  Bible,  A,  153. 

Living  epistles,  1 54. 

Lord's  Supper,  The,  104. 

Love  a  joyous  affection,  125. 

Loving  Christ's  friends,  53. 

M 
Maintenance  of  the  Christian  life,  89,  I  ^2^ 
Marks  of  love,  50. 
Martha  over-anxious,  4. 
Minded  to  be  rich,  9. 
Minister's  deathbed.  A,  142. 

N 
Naturalist  opens  cocoon,  76. 
Nearsighted  girl.  The,  lio. 


Index  of  Subjects  183 

Necessity  of  the  new  birth,  24. 

New  birth,  The,  22. 

Nicodemus,  Christ's  conversation  with,  24. 


O 


Obligation  of  service,  145. 
One  thing  lacking,  3. 
Our  need  of  struggle,  75. 


Parks,  Dr.  Leighton,  155. 
Payson,  Edward,  129. 
Peace  of  the  Christian,  The,  1 19. 
Pearse,   Rev.  Mark  Guy,  instances  a  gentle  con- 
version, 35. 
Peril  of  neglect,  5. 

Personal  acquaintance  with  Christ,  43. 
Pompey's  strategy  to  take  a  city,  71. 
Prayer  as  a  means  of  grace,  94. 
Prayer  our  vital  breath,  97. 
Preaching  commanded,  104. 
Preoccupation  of  mind,  10. 
Principal  thing.  The,  I. 
Prior  engagement.  The,  14. 
Promises  connected  with  commands,  15. 


184  Index  of  Subjects 

R 

Religion  a  joyous  experience,  127 

Religion  an  upward  calling,   115. 

Religion  not  drudgery,  114. 

Religion  profitable,  113. 

Religion  promotes  life,  i. 

Religion's  pleasant  ways,   1 14. 

Reversing  Jesus'  command,  12. 

Reward  of  conflict,  74. 

Reward  of  fidelity,  161. 

Reward  of  following  Christ,  159. 

Reward  of  serving,  160. 

Rewards  of  the  Christian  Life,  158,  174. 

"  Room  for  improvement,"  90. 

S 
Sacraments  instituted,  103. 
Sacraments,  their  meaning,  103. 
Salvation,  20. 

Salvation  Army  meeting,  36. 
Satan  no  myth,  63. 
Satan  would  make  us  inefficient,  65. 
Satan's  tactics,  6^. 
Satanic  men  oppose  Christians,  85. 
Saved  to  serve,  145. 
Saving  faith,  2'j, 


Index  of  Subjects  185 

Security  in  God,  123. 

Service,  Obligation  of,  145. 

Siege  of  Namur,  82. 

Sin  is  war,  120. 

Sin  one  step  at  a  time,  72. 

Sinner  running  toward  Christ,  A,  57, 

Spiritual  verities,  112. 

Spiritual  vision,  ill. 

Strait  of  Gibraltar,  29. 

Strategy  against  Satan,  79, 

Struggle  to  be  anticipated,  6 1. 

Suffering  as  a  Christian,  133. 

Sufferings  and  trials,  1 3 1. 

Summary,  168 

Sustaining  grace,  142. 

T 

"  Tares  also,"  63. 

Temptation  disarmed  by  love,  78. 

Temptation  not  always  evil,  73. 

Temptation  universal,  64. 

Three  pillows,  142. 

Too  sinful  to  enjoy  religion,  19. 

U 

Unity  of  the  New  Testment,  168. 
Uselessness  condemned,  148. 


1 86         Index  of  Subjects 
w 

Warfare  of  Boers  in  South  Africa,  67. 
Watch,  and  fight,  and  pray,  '^J. 
Weathervane  on  building,  139. 
Well  in  the  foundations,  The,  116. 
Wise  and  foolish  virgins.  The,  5- 
Wise  picture  dealer.  A,  81. 
Witnesses  for  Christ,  151. 
Woman  of  Samaria,  150. 
Work  as  a  means  of  grace,  105. 

X 

Xerxes  and  a  new  pleasure,  112. 

Y 

Yielding  to  Jesus,  45. 

Young  girl's  quiet  conversion,  A,  34. 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS 


II.  Kings  vi 

17 

III 

Matthew  V. 

37 

65 

Psalm  ciii.  i 

3 

138 

44 

134 

Proverbs  iii. 

17 

114 

vi.    i-ii 

65 

Isaiah  Ixvi.  ] 

^3 

138 

5-8 

95 

Matthew  iv. 

1.3 

66 

8,32 

122 

i-ii 

64 

9-13 

95 

4 

98 

13 

65,75 

10 

66 

19 

4 

18,19 

150 

24 

20 

19 

4 

24-34 

122 

20-22 

45 

25-32 

137 

V.     3-12 

n6 

26-32 

138 

10 

135 

32 

16 

II 

134 

33 

3,  16 

13 

147 

25-34 

13 

14 

151 

vii.  7,  8 

48 

14-16 

147 

7-1 1 

96 

16 

138 

12 

150 

19 

148 

15 

85 

21-28 

73 

24,25 

1 

87 

53 

i88 


Index  of  Texts 


Matthew  vii. 

26,  27    53 

Matthew  xii 

48- 

-50 127 

viii.  1 1 

165 

xiii.  1-23 

63 

21,  22 

14,  23 

19 

66 

26 

122 

19,  38, 

39 

65 

ix.  13 

39 

22 

9 

X.  16 

61 

24-26 

63 

19,  29- 

31         122 

25-30, 

38- 

40    66 

22 

134 

33 

147 

23 

83 

38 

66 

24 

134 

39 

64,  65 

24,25 

62 

44 

5 

25 

134 

45,46 

5 

28 

134 

xiv.  23 

94 

29 

138 

27 

116 

29-31 

137 

xvi.  15-17 

44 

32,33 

151 

23 

66 

34-39 

61 

24 

4,  133 

38 

133 

xviii.  6,  7 

85 

42 

147,  160 

14 

138 

xi.   26 

140 

19 

103 

28 

127 

20 

103 

29 

4 

xix.  20,  21 

159 

30 

52 

29 

159 

xii.  24 

67 

XX.  26,  27 

148 

26 

66 

28 

145 

29 

86 

xxii.  32 

163 

Index  of  Texts 


189 


Matthew  xxii 

•35- 

-40  150 

Mark  iv.  15 

66 

xxiii.  II 

148 

26-29 

90 

15 

66 

vi.  46 

94 

xxiv.  4 

85 

50 

116 

13 

136 

viii.  33 

66 

4-13 

162 

34 

133 

XXV.  1-13 

5 

36,37 

4 

14-30 

147 

ix.  23,  24 

49 

31-46 

145 

X.   21 

3,  133 

37-40 

161 

23 

9 

41 

64, 

65,66 

29,30 

159 

xxvi.  6-13 

161 

42-44 

148 

26-28 

104 

xii.  29,  30 

19 

36 

95 

42-44 

161 

39 

140 

xiil.  22,  23 

85 

41 

73. 

75,95 

27 

163 

xxviii.  i8-2C 

) 

104 

xiv.  32 

95 

19,  20 

152 

36 

140 

20 

74 

38 

73 

Mark  i.  12,  i 

^3 

64 

xvi.  15 

152,  156 

13 

66 

Luke  iii.  21, 

22         94 

16,  17 

150 

iv.  1-13 

64 

35 

95 

2,  12 

66 

iii.  22 

67 

8 

65 

23.  26, 

66 

8,  12 

86 

iv.  II,  12 

127 

16, 

103 

I  go 


Index  of  Texts 


Luke  V. 

16, 

95 

Luke  xi.  28 

53*98 

vi.  12 

.  13 

94 

xii.  6,  7,  24- 

-28        122 

22 

134, 135 

8 

55 

31 

150 

16-21 

5 

36 

138 

22 

122 

46 

52 

27 

13 

47-49 

123 

30 

138 

vii.  47 

122 

32 

136 

47- 

-50 

121 

39 

11 

viii.  5- 

15 

98 

xiii.  6-9 

148 

12 

65,66 

16 

66 

13 

75 

xiv.  25-33 

62 

48 

122 

26 

4 

ix.  23 

133 

27 

133 

28 

94 

33 

4 

58 

135 

xvii.  20,  21 

129 

X.    2 

150 

21 

27 

18 

66 

xviii.  2—5 

95 

20 

162 

29,  30 

159 

21 

140 

xix.  10 

6 

30- 

37 

149 

12-26 

147 

38- 

-42 

4 

xxii.  19 

50 

xii.  5- 

-8 

95 

19,20 

104 

9-1 

3 

96 

27 

146 

15 

67 

31 

64,66 

18 

66 

31*32 

95 

Index  of  Texts 


191 


Luke  xxii.  42 

140 

John  vii. 

37i 

38        119 

45 

95 

viii.  12 

33 

xxiii.  43 

163 

24 

6 

John  i.  35-51 

44 

31, 

32 

52 

iii.  1-2 1 

24 

32 

98 

3 

38 

36 

113 

14,  15 

46 

38, 

41, 

44           66 

14-18 

26 

44 

64,66 

16 

46 

ix.  25 

25 

18 

121 

X.  9 

28 

20,  21 

53 

ro 

33,  109 

36 

45, 

130 

14 

43 

iv.   14 

27, 

116 

27- 

-29 

123 

35,  36 

151 

xi.  25, 

26 

162 

36 

16 

xii.  2 

64 

.    V.  17 

105, 

146 

27 

95 

24 

23 

31 

66 

39 

42 

,98 

xiii.  2 

66 

vi.  27 

3 

13- 

17 

49 

33 

32 

xiv.   2 

128,  163 

35 

32, 

119 

3 

163 

37 

32 

,48 

6 

28 

47 

31 

13 

96 

53-58 

33 

16 

95 

67,68 

45 

21 

43,51,78 

vii.  17 

105 

21- 

23 

160 

192 


Index  of  Texts 


John  xiv. 

21- 

-26 

127 

24 

51 

26 

50 

27 

120 

30 

66 

35 

53 

XV.  I,  2 

135, 

136 

3 

98 

4,6- 

-10 

79 

4-7 

92 

5 

28 

9 

126 

9-1 1 

94 

II 

126 

15 

126, 

160 

18 

4 

xvi.  2 

61 

5-1 1 

41 

II 

66 

13'  I 

4 

44 

23 

96 

33 

116, 

122 

xvii.  20 

127 

XX.  21 

149 

xxi.  1 5-] 

^7 

149 

17 

49 

Acts.  i.  8  152,  156 

ii.  I,  2  103 

I  Cor.  xi.  24,  25       104 

II  Cor.  V.  17  24 
vi.  2  13 

Gal.  ii.  20  28 

vi.  12  133 

Ephesians  ii.  I  24 

I  Timothy  vi.  9  9 

James  i.  12  87 

ii.  10  70 

I  Peter  i.  8  123 

iv.  16  133 

V.  8  64 

I  John  ii.  9,  10  54 

iii.  13,  14  54 

14  23 

19-21  41 

iv.  20  54 

V.  12  91 

21  54 

Rev.  ii.  i-ff.  62 

ii-  4  79»  135 

7  ^^7 

II  88 

17  87,  88 


Index  of  Texts  193 


-ev.  ii. 

26 

'^^ 

Rev.  xii.  3-17 

67 

28 

^Z 

9 

66,67 

iii. 

62 

xiii.  2,  4,  II 

67 

5 

87,88 

xvi.  13 

67 

II 

85 

XX.       2 

66,67 

12 

%7,  88 

10,  14 

66 

21 

^7 

l^he  Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning  His 
Own  Mission 

BY 

Frank  Hugh  Foster,  Ph.D,,  D,D. 
PRESS  NOTICES. 

"  The  style  is  clear,  the  thought  elevated,  the  topics  treated  of  are, 
in  their  logical  deductions,  extremely  practical.  Students  of  the  Bible 
generally  will  find  this  a  very  useful  volume  to  peruse  and  possess." 
N.   T.  Observer. 

*'  If  this  first  volume  of  this  series  is  a  fair  specimen  and  representative 
of  those  that  will  follow,  the  series  will  not  lack  in  ability  or  interest. 
Dr.  Foster's  position  is  that  of  the  conservative  scholar  who  neverthe- 
less is  familiar  with  current  critical  investigations.  The  style  of  presen- 
tation is  clear  and  admirably  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  layman  and  the 
student.'*      TAe  Interior. 

"This  is  a  wonderfully  interesting,  suggestive  and  stimulating  little 
book."      T/ie  Baptist  Teacher. 

"A  very  thoughtful  and  helpful  book.  .  .  will  be  found  instructive 
and  quickening."      The  Examiner. 

"The  book  is  the  work  of  a  thorough  scholar,  is  conservative  yet 
progressive,  and  gives  a  remarkably  wholesome  presentation  of  a  veiy 
important  subject."      The  Baptist  Argus. 

**  Scholarly  but  popular.  .  .  will  be  found  extremely  useful  to  all  who 
desire  a  concise  but  accurate  and  comprehensive  presentation  of  the  lead- 
ing teachings  of  Jesus  concerning  his  mission."  Baptist  Review  and 
Expositor. 

**  Clear  and  simple  enough  for  the  intelligent  layman,  but  not  unhelp- 
ful to  the  clergyman  who  wants  clearer  ideas  as  to  his  Lord's  atoning 
work."      The  Treasury. 

unto.  Cloth  bound,  Pp,  viiiy  136.  Pries']^  cents. 


The  Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning  God 
the  Father 

BY 
Archibald  T,  Robertson,  D.D, 

PRESS  NOTICES, 

"A  fresh,  reverent  and  strong  presentation  of  the  vitaltheme." 

Louisville  Courier  Journal. 

"  No  one  can  read  the  book  without  having  his  conception 
of  God  quickened,  and  having  a  clearer  view  of  the  mission  of 
Jesus  as  the  revealer  of  the  Father."     Canadian  Baptist. 

"The  method  is  scholarly,  the  spirit  is  evangelical  and  the 
result  is  worthy  of  the  careful  attention  of  devout  readers." 
Herald  and  Presbyter. 

"  Both  the  subject  and  the  writer  promised  so  much  that  we 
read  it  through,  though  tired  from  a  hard  day's  work,  and  we 
found  that  all  the  promises  were  fiMfilled."     Baptist  Argus. 

"  Reverent  in  tone,  dignified  in  style,  helpful  in  purpose,  and 
true  to  the  heart  of  the  message  of  Christ."  Religious  Telescope. 

"An  original  study  of  the  Scriptures."     Baptist  Standard. 

"  It  is  well  and  wisely  done."     IVatchword  and  Truth. 

"  Comprehensive  and  spiritual."     The  Advance. 

"A  sound,  safe  treatment  of  the  subject  in  hand."  Central 
Baptist. 

"Able  and  scholarly."     Christian  Observer. 

"  The  style  is  bright  and  vigorous — there  is  not  a  dull  page 
in  the  book.  It  is  written  for  the  people.  Those  who  want 
to  know  in  brief  compass  what  Jesus  teaches  about  God  will 
find  it  arranged,  explained  and  emphasized  in  this  book." 
Louisville  Courier-Journal. 

i2mo.  Cloth  bound.  Pp.  vizi,  182.  Price  y^  cents. 


The  Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  the  Church 

BY 

Geerhardus  VoSy  Ph.D.,  D.D. 
PRESS  NOTICES. 

**  This  is  a  thorough  yet  compact  study  of  Christ's  teaching  on  the 
Kingdom  and  the  Church,"      Auburn  Seminary  Review. 

**A  vigorous  and  discriminating  discussion  of  a  vital  theme.  .  .  will  be 
read  with  help  and  satisfaction  by  a  large  audience.'*  The  Baptist  Ar- 
gus. 

"The  discussion  in  this  volume  is  of  a  great  question,  and  the  treat- 
ment is  attractive  and  luminous. ' '      The  Herald  and  Presbyter. 

"A  scholarly  volume.  ...  the  whole  argument  is  well  expressed  and 
worthy  of  profound  consideration."      The  Examiner. 

"Scholarly,  comprehensive  and  condensed.  The  discussion  shows 
wide  reading  of  the  literature  of  the  subject,  evangelical  conviction  and 
feeling,  and  great  skill  in  the  use  of  exegetical  power.  The  conclu- 
sions reached,  as  briefly  restated  in  the  closing  chapter,  will  commend 
themselves  to  earnest  and  moderate  men,  and  the  whole  discussion  will 
be  fascinating  and  suggestive  to  trained  students. "      N.  Y.  Observer. 

"Impartial,  reverent  and  very  careful.  .  .  .  Dr,  Vos'  standpoint  is  at 
once  modern  and  temperate.  His  study  will  be  of  value,  not  merely  to 
the  trained  student  but  to  the  general  reader  as  well."      The  Church- 


"  The  author  has  given  a  clear,  strong,  convincing  argument  in  re- 
gard to  his  conception  of  the  nature  and  place  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  the  world.  It  is  a  book  that  is  profitable  for  reading,  study  and  re- 
reading."     The  Midland  Methodist. 

**A  scholarly  exposition  of  what  is  recognized  to  be  the  dominant 
theme  of  Christ's  teaching.  Especially  valuable  is  the  exegesis  of  Pe- 
ter's confession  and  Christ's  consequent  declarations."  The  Congrega- 
tionalist. 

iimo.  Cloth  bound.  Pp.  vi,  203.  Price  75  cents. 


The  Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning  the 

Scriptures 

BY 

David  James  BurrelU  D,D.,  LLD. 

PRESS  NOTICES. 

**In  the  preparation  of  this  volume  Dr.  Burrell  has  rendered 
the  church  a  real  service."     United  Presbyterian. 

"The   argument  is  strong  and    legitimate  and  the  style 
vivacious  and  attractive."    Lutheran  IVorld. 

"A  book  that  must  appeal  to  every  thoughtful  mind." 
Midland  Methodist. 

"  The  book  is  one  of  value  and  well  worthy  a  place  in  the 
series  of  which  it  forms  a  part."    Religious  Telescope. 

"A  thoughtful  book  by  an  able  writer  on  a  timely  topic." 
Christian  Instructor. 

"  The  style  of  the  discussion  is  brilliant  and  its  tone  kindly 
and  persuasive.     The  IVatchman. 

"A  bold  and  ringing  book,  and  we  bid  it    Godspeed." 
Baptist  Argus. 

"A  strong  and  valuable  contribution."    Herald  and  PreS' 
hyter. 

"  Well  written  and  very  readable."     The  Living  Church. 

"  Dr.  Burrell  writes  with  profound  conviction  and  much 
fervor."    N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate. 

"The  book  is  most  timely."    Christian  Observer. 

"The  book  is  done  with  absolute  thoroughness."     The 
Advance. 

"  One  of  the  best  books  extant  on  the  theme."  The  Observer. 

"  From  start  to  finish  the  book  is  one  that  will  interest*" 
Zion's  Herald. 

i2mo.  Cloth  bound.    Pp.vii,  211.  Price  75  cents. 


The   Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning 
The  Holy  Spirit 

BY 

Louis  Burton  Crane ^  A.M, 

PRESS    NOTICES 

"A  most  valuable  book.  The  life  of  any  Christian  will  be 
greatly  enriched  by  its  perusal." — Rochester  Press  News. 

"  Such  a  volume  as  this  will  direct  students  of  the  Bible  along  a 
very  important  Hne  of  theological  study." — The  Independent. 

"A  close  and  critical  study  of  a  sensitive  and  mighty  subject." — 
Michigan  Christian  Advocate. 

"  The  book  aids  us  to  a  lofty  and  true  estimate  of  the  character 
and  ever  prevailing""  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit." — The  Christian 
Nation. 

"In  this  day  of  carping  criticism  and  so  much  theory,  it 
is  refreshing  to  see  God's  Word  handled  so  reverently." — Chris- 
tian Observer. 

"Reverent,  devout  and  conservative,  keeping  well  within  the 
limits  of  scriptural  statement." — Record  of  Christian  Work. 

"  We  have  seen  no  book  of  equal  size  that  gives  a  more  satis- 
factory treatment  of  this  subject." — The  Christian  Evangelist. 

"  A  fresh  and  interesting  discussion  of  an  old  theme  from  a  new 
viewpoint." — The  Baptist  Organ. 

"  Ripe  scholarship,  thorough  research,  intelligent  insight,  and 
judicious  exposition." — Baptist  Commonwealth. 

1 2 WO.  Cloth  bound.  Pp.  xiv,  175.  Price,  75  cts. 


The   Teaching  of  Jesus  Concerning 
Christian  Conduct 

BY 

Andrew  C.  Zenos,  D.D, 
PRESS    NOTICES 

"  This  work  impresses  one  as  among  the  best  of  the  course, 
the  ground  being  covered  with  the  author's  habitual  thorough- 
ness."—  The  Interior. 

"  For  the  busy  man  who  is  not  able  to  enter  into  an  elaborate 
argument  these  chapters  will  prove  very  helpful." — The  Christian 
Intelligencer. 

"  The  book  is  written  with  admirable  clearness  and  convinc- 
ingness, and  shows  how  many-sided  and  practical  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  is  as  apphed  to  human  conduct." — Presbyterian  Banner. 

"  The  book  is  written  in  lucid  style,  is  highly  instructive  and 
useful. ' '  —  Tke  Lutheran  World. 

"  His  interpretations  of  the  precepts  of  Christ  are  judicious,  and 
the  lessons  he  deduces  therefrom  are  worthy  of  our  earnest 
thought." — Baptist  Commonwealth. 

"  In  this  little  volume  Jesus'  teachings  are  set  forth  briefly,  but 
in  a  comprehensive  and  orderly  manner.  Nothing  could  be 
better." — Pittsburg  Christian  Advocate. 

"  The  volume  is  attractive  in  appearance,  and  the  treatment  of 
the  subject  is  pleasing  and  helpful." — Herald  attd  Presbyter. 

' '  The  volume  is  full  of  careful  thought  strengthened  by  studied 
research.  This  should  be  one  of  the  minister's  handbooks." — 
The  Morning  Star. 

I  imo.    Cloth  bound.    Pp.  x,  171.  Price,  7  5  cts. 


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